Human or Monster?
by Kumori-hime
Summary: When Naruto and Sakura start going out, Hinata is devistated. She doesn't know what she'll do, knowing that she can't confess to Naruto. Can anyone help her find herself again? DISCONTINUED!
1. A Stressful Day

I dedicate this to the gaahina club on deviantart who inspired it. IT'S THEIR FAULT!

Chapter 1

A Stressful Day

"Hinata!" Naruto yelled as he ran towards her. "Hinata, guess what." Hinata poked her fingers and replied.

"What?"

"I asked Sakura out! And she said yes!" he yelled. If Hinata had had pupils, they would have shrunken.

"Oh." she said, stupefied.

"Isn't it wonderful!" he yelled.

"Congratulations." she said.

When he left, the tears spilled out. He was taken, now. She was too late. She would never be able to confess now. Though Hinata knew she should be happy for him, she wasn't. She was sad, and she didn't know whether she would ever be able to stop crying.

Gaara watched Hinata. The painful memories came, when he had cried. He wished he could just kill her, but he knew he couldn't. Many times, he had tried to, but every time, he would see his mother over Hinata, and stop.

Under her shyness, Hinata was very much like his mother. She stood up for her beliefs, and it wasn't all because of Naruto. He knew she still would, even though Naruto was gone from her life now.

He jumped down beside her. She turned around, startled. She was scared of him, he could see it in her eyes. That's when he knew. He would protect her, and he wouldn't need to kill any more.

"Gaara…" she started, unsure of what to call him.

"I won't hurt you, Hinata-san." He knew that he didn't know her well enough to call her –san, and he should have used –sama instead. He regretted saying it.

"Ah," she backed up. She still though he was a monster. He felt a flare of the monster, and suppressed it. He couldn't kill her.

"Do you need a walk home?" he asked. He knew where she lived. He had wanted to kill her since the Chuunin exam, yet at the same time, there was a different emotion, one that he couldn't recognize.

He's a monster! Hinata thought. But I don't feel strong enough to home. I guess I'll have to trust him. She decided. At least if he kills me, I won't have the pain of seeing Naruto with Her every day. And I thought I could trust her!

"Hai." she said softly.

Gaara blinked. He hadn't thought that she would accept. He walked up to her, and they started towards Hinata's home.

When they got there, Gaara realize how…couple-y they had seemed, and was glad that no one was out at this hour of the night. He was also thankful that Hinata was too shy to have a roommate, as that would embarrass her.

At the door, he said "Good-bye, Hinata-san. I hope I'll see you again."

Hinata felt her cheeks burn and walked inside. "Arigatou." she said quietly before shutting the door.

She sank to the floor. She was stressed and confused. She wondered briefly if she could skip training and missions tomorrow to get her thoughts in order. She quickly shook the thought from her head.

She went to her room, wondering how she would be without Naruto, and why the monstrous Gaara was so kind to her. For that matter, why had he and his team stayed in Konoha? And where was he living?

She gasped. He might now have a place to stay! She didn't think about what she would do about it, but rushed outside in her nightgown.

Gaara was walking away slowly. He wished that He knew what his feelings were. Especially the new one.

"Gaara-kun!" Hinata yelled. He turned around. Hinata was in her nightgown. Gaara felt and urge to… well he didn't know what he wanted to do, but walk away wasn't it. She he walked towards her.

"Do you have a place to stay?" she asked him. She seemed worried. He wondered why, and realized that he didn't.

"No." he replied. Hinata's eyes widened, the way they had when Naruto told her that he was with Sakura.

"Do you want to stay with me?" Hinata asked, then covered her mouth. What am I thinking? I can't invite a murderer to sleep in my house!

"Gomen nassai." she said hurriedly. "I don't know—"

"Sure." Gaara replied. She was a clean person; it would be much more comfortable than sleeping in trees or on the ground.

He walked into her house. As he had thought, it was clean. Clean was an understatement though. It was spotless, and looked almost unused. It smelled nice, too.

He lay on the couch and fell asleep quickly, as Hinata stood there in stunned silence.

Hinata watched him take off his gourd and fall asleep. The ever-present cold look on his face was gone when he was asleep, and he smiled.

It was a strange thing, to see Gaara smile. She found herself thinking that maybe she would be okay without Naruto after all, and maybe Gaara wasn't a monster after all.

It was with these thoughts that she went to bed, and had an extremely relaxing, un-troubled sleep.

Please don't hurt me. It's not my fault.

(And even if you flame me ((preferably not, though)), RR)


	2. The Attack

The more I write, the more I want to write. I'm working on the 7th chapter now.

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2

The Attack

When Gaara woke up, he was in a house. He wasn't a morning person, though, so he couldn't remember why. He put his gourd on, and decided to see who's house it was. The first room he looked into was a kitchen, and perfectly clean. It was a female, then, as males didn't have houses this clean.

The next room Gaara looked into was a bathroom, with feminine soaps and looking slightly less clear, though still above average. It was a pale yellow, which Gaara liked much better than white. She has good taste, too.

The third room was a bedroom. It was lavender, though Gaara thought of it as being purple. The bed had a canopy, but it was sheer, and Gaara could still see the person in it.

She had short black hair and one of the straps on the spaghetti strap nightgown was sliding down her shoulder. Once again, Gaara had the urge to do something, but wasn't sure what. He watched her. Then he remembered the events of the previous night. Hyuuga Hinata, a shy, kind girl. She was smiling in her sleep, and looked happy, as if something good had happened.

But what good could have happened between the time he fell asleep and the time she did? Suddenly, a flood of memories came unbidden.

When his mother had died, leaving him in the hands of his hateful father. He remembered the feel of her blood, which he had tried to put back into her body and only succeeded in getting it all over his hands and sash.

He remembered trying to wash that sash, and the way he had blistered he hands and fallen into the lake he was washing it in. There were still pale pink spots on it from that time, though you couldn't see them unless you looked.

He remembered the first assassin, how he had attacked Gaara without warning, and how the demon inside of him had awoken at that time. He remembered the way the blood had splattered all over him, and he had liked it, yet been horrified at the same time.

He remembered when he had decided that killing made him feel alive. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to kill her. She would die.

Sasuke heard a scream in the distance. "Kakashi-sensei, I'm going to go see who that is." He said before heading towards the sound. He traveled as fast as he could, homing in on the strange noises and more familiar screams. He was surprised to find himself at Hinata's house, but if she was in trouble, she would have less of a chance then the other girls. He went in.

When he got to her bedroom, he froze. Gaara was trying to murder her for no apparent reason. He was using an incredible amount of sand, and Hinata wasn't going to survive much longer at this rate. He used the element of surprise to throw about a dozen knives at Gaara. Four of them hit, and Gaara started to crumble, instantly, his sand surrounded him, and when it came at Sasuke, Gaara was completely okay.

Sasuke knew instantly that he didn't stand a chance. Gaara was immortal, invincible, or he might not even be real. Sasuke decided to take Hinata, who was unconscious now, to safety and let the older people take care of Gaara. He jumped over to Hinata and picked her up. She was a bit to light, but that could wait.

He ran to the window, and jumped out. (It was a one-story building.) He ran towards the hospital, aware that Gaara was following. Luckily, it was still to early for anyone to be awake. At the hospital, as soon as the nurse saw Hinata, she called for a stretcher. Once Hinata was safely in a hospital room, the nurse asked Sasuke what had happened. He told her about Gaara and what he had been doing to Hinata.

"Oh my goodness!" she said. "But that means that Hinata's house will be in shambles and that there's now a soulless murderer in Konoha!"

Sasuke nodded. "Soulless might ever be true. When my knives hit him, he didn't bleed; he cracked, as if he is sand, and not just a controller of sand. Yet there are some people who have managed to touch him, and they said that he's human."

"Take it to the Hokage." She said. "He's the only one here that will know what to do."

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Please review. Don't complain yet, this is just the beginning. 


	3. The Plans

Well, here's the third chapter. I don't really know Tenten's personality, so I made one.

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3

The Plans

When Hinata awoke, she was in a hospital bed. She was alone, and that wasn't good. Nurses nearly always kept someone with people who might be traumatized when they awoke. Hinata wasn't, but they didn't know that. Something was wrong.

She looked around. There were some water lilies by her bedside. The floated in a basin on a small table near her. She wondered who had left them. She didn't know who had saved her from Gaara, either. She decided that it must have been the same person both times, but whom?

Someone knocked on the door. Hinata turned towards the door, and realized that she was nude. "Who is it?" she asked.

"It's me." A familiar voice replied.

"Oh, Tenten, could you get me some clothes?" she asked Tenten.

"Sure." Tenten replied. "I'll be right back."

Five minutes later, Tenten was back with a plain white hospital gown. It had loose sleeves, and was generally flowing, but it was a size or two too small, so it was tight with flowing sleeves, and looked pretty.

"Just like I thought, they look better when you get a size or two small instead of the right size. But it's still plain. She put a bag on the larger table. "Come on," she said. "Let's personalize it!" The bag was full of everything they needed. It had more white cloth, white string and many other colors, and ribbons in every reasonable size, pattern and color. There were about two dozen needles and a gross of pins. And there was a mannequin and a sketchbook and pencil with an eraser. And Hinata's normal clothes were there, too

"Wow!" Hinata exclaimed. She changed into her normal clothes and put the dress on the mannequin. Then, she drew. She listed the things she needed to  
Tenten as she went, and Tenten got the exact thing or told Hinata they didn't have it. At the end of the drawing, a good third of the stuff was in a separate pile.

Then, Tenten and Hinata started on the pins. There were five left in the end, and then came the string, stitching all the things pinned in place onto the dress. Hinata looked it up. She took it off the mannequin, and changed into it.

Sasuke finished running around for the Hokage, and decided to see if Hinata was okay. He walked into the hospital and asked to see her room. The nurses were too busy to take him up there, and the fight with Gaara's monstrous self had injured many, though none were fatal wounds yet. In the end, Temari had calmed him down, and taken him out of the village. No one knew when or if they would be back.

He knocked on the door, and when he heard giggling, he walked in. His jaw dropped.

Hinata was wearing a gorgeous gown. It was white, with a pale blue sash from her right shoulder to her left hip. The sleeves flowed, and they were sheer with lace ends. Around her middle was a ribbon of cyan flowers on a lavender background, and it was tied in a bow at the back. Her hair was shinier than normal, and her face had just the right amount of makeup. Tenten stood off to the side, looking proud of herself and Hinata.

"Hinata-san," he started. "Hinata-san, it's stunning."

Hinata blushed even deeper. She didn't think that a guy would see it. And Sasuke! Everyone liked him, and he had just complemented her.

"A-Arigatou." She stuttered.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You looked pretty shaken up earlier."

"Hai, I'm fine." She replied, then realized what that meant. He had been the one to save her! "Arigatou gozaimasu for saving me earlier." She said. She had been tapping her fingers for the whole thing, but now it was going a mile a minute.

Tenten broke through with her easygoing personality. "Well it you've been running around, and Hinata's been unconscious, then you're both hungry. Let's get Raman."

"Sure." Sasuke said.

"Yeah," said Hinata. "Just let me change back into my normal clothes."

"Don't," said Tenten, I brought my dress, too." When Tenten had been training, she had fallen and hurt herself. Hinata had done the same thing for her all those years ago. Now, as Tenten brought the dress out of the bag, (which Hinata now wondered how Tenten had carried it, and how many hours she had spent getting all that stuff in there) Hinata smiled. It carried memories that couldn't be forgotten.

"Sasuke-kun, you have to leave while I'm changing." Tenten said. Sasuke left without commenting, but he was berating himself inside.

_I must have seemed as horny as Kakashi-sensei! This is terrible! Why didn't I clue in!_

Hinata helped Tenten into the dress, as it was slightly more complex that her's. When they were ready, The walked out, and immediately noticed the problem.

"Sasuke-kun, you can't come dressed like that." said Tenten.

"We should invite more people." said Hinata. "Maybe it would work out better if it was a party."

"You're right!" exclaimed Tenten. Sasuke wished he had gone to bed. "But we need a reason, and more than an hour. It will have to be tomorrow."

Hinata smiled and thought for a while. "Was Gaara caught?" she asked.

"Hai," replied Sasuke, "But that wouldn't work out."

"You're right." Tenten agreed. "Let's ask Negi-kun, he always has ideas."

_He does?_ thought Sasuke.

_She…likes him?_ Hinata wondered. "Hai, but he'll only say it's annoying and ignore us."

Tenten thought for a moment. "He likes testing himself." she said. "Maybe if Sasuke fought against him in a mock battle…" she snapped. "That's it!" she cried. "It will be a tournament! Everyone can enjoy themselves and compete against others! It'll be perfect. Now all we have to do is persuade the Hokage…"

_Why did I come?_ Sasuke wondered. _It didn't help anyone, and I didn't do anything. I only got involved in a big…thing._

_

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_

Oops!

In this section, I make fun of the story and characters.

He knocked on the door, and when he heard giggling, he walked in. His jaw dropped.

Hinata wasn't wearing anything! He turned red and looked away, and Hinata screamed. "**_YOU PERVERT! KAKASHI-SENSEI IS RUBBING OFF ON YOU!"_**

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Please review. The next chapter will be better, I promise. . 


	4. Notes and Dresses

_**Chapter 4**_

The Letter and the dresses

Once it had been taken to the Hokage, it was official. It was a village-wide tournament, with contests in everything from beauty to a battle to baking. Every one in the village was hyped up for it (except Shikamaru, who is never exited). All the girls were making dresses and, and many of them were making bread as well.

Hinata went back into the hospital room to get into her normal clothes and tell the nurses that she was fine. When she arrived in her room, she saw the water lilies again, but there were more of them than last time. There was also a note beside them. She picked up the note and read through it.

Gomen nassai. I lost myself in memories, and I didn't mean to attack you. Please watch out for me, I don't know what will happen the next time I see you

--Gaara

_He didn't mean to? Then the flowers a__re from him, not Sasuke-kun. How can I thank him for the flowers without seeing him?... Kankuro is still here! I'll get him to take a note to Gaara for me!_

Hinata quickly wrote a reply.

Gaara, thank you for the flowers, they made my day. There will be a tournament in Konoha the day after tomorrow. If you think you can handle yourself, maybe you and your team could join us.

--Hyuuga Hinata

She folded the note and changed back into her normal clothes. Then she folded her dress neatly and walked home.

When she got there she put the dress a hanger and set it out so she would see and iron it. Then she went to find Kankuro and get him to give the note to Gaara. She looked around for about an hour before finding him.

"Kankuro-chan," Hinata started. Kankuro obviously didn't expect to see her.

"Hinata-chan." He said. "What do you want me for?" Hinata was glad that he was alone. She swallowed and handed the note to him.

"Could you give this to Gaara?" she asked.

"Sure, if I find him." He replied. Hinata gaped. He had to know where Temari and Gaara were, he was on their team!

"You don't know where he is?" she was worried. "But you're on his team!"

"Well I know where Temari would take him if she was with him, but I don't know whether she's with him or not."

"Temari-chan is with him." Hinata said. "She's the one who tamed him and took him away. Don't you ever listen to gossip?"

"No."

"Well, can you get that to him?"

"Yeah." He got up and left with the note. Hinata wondered whether he was really dependable.

Gaara was in a cave by a waterfall. Temari was nearby, having pleasant dreams.  
Gaara was tempted to leave, but then she would get angry at him, and that would make him angry and he would lose a bit more of himself to the monster. He decided not to.

Kankuro arrived. "Gaara, what exactly did you do to Hinata?"

"I tried to kill her."

"With…"

"Sand."

"Well she wrote a note to you, and it seemed pretty important to her to get this to you."

"Really?" Gaara asked. No one every cared about him enough to write letters or notes to him. Kankuro handed him the note.

_She liked the flowers. Good. A tournament? And she's…inviting me? Why does she care about me after all I did to her? _Gaara fought down hot feelings, hate, anger, and something else.

_Temari and Shikamaru were on a bench in the park. There were friends, and Shikamaru didn't think of her as 'troublesome'. He gave her a bouquet of daffodils, Temari's favorite flower. She thanked him, and—_

"Temari, wake **up**!" Kankuro was shaking her awake. She glared at him.

"I was having a good dream, can't this wait?"

"About who, Shikamaru?" Kankuro replied deviously. "And no, this can't wait."

Temari glared daggers at him.

"Gaara got a letter from the girl he was attacking yesterday. And I don't think it's the expected monster thing, either, she wasn't that type."

"A letter?" Temari asked. "Then we wait for him to drop it, then read it. In the mean time, we have to make sure he doesn't get away and start killing people."

They had a hard time, but Gaara lost interest in about two hours, and dropped the letter, and sat down to think.

Temari picked up the letter and read it. "Oh my god! Kankuro, Look!" She handed Kankuro the letter.

"He gave her flowers?" Kankuro was confused. "Since when did Gaara give out flowers?"

"And she invited him to the tournament. We're invited, too, but it says we're invited as a side note."

"What's going on?" Kankuro asked. "This is way over my head."

"Are you blind!" Temari almost yelled. "It's obvious!" she dropped to a whisper. "They're in love."

Kankuro stared at her as if she had grown another head. "Have you taken leave of your senses! Gaara! In lo—"

"Shhh!" Temari quieted him. "If he hasn't realized it yet, we can't rush him."

"Why do we want this to happen?"

"First of all it would give Gaara a purpose to live other than killing others. Second, she would take care of him. Third, it would be a strong alliance if he got serious and proposed, as he's the future Kazekage."

Kankuro thought about it for a minute. "You're right." He said. "Get to know the girl."

Temari looked at him. "Why me?" she asked.

"Because I would look like I was a weirdo if I tried to befriend a random girl, and you are a girl, so no one would think anything of you befriending her. And she's best friends with one of the most popular girls there. Who knows, you might be able to hook up with Shikamaru."

She whacked him over the head, but he knew he had won. She left, to find Tenten and Hinata. She wished that Kankuro were better with names. Even Gaara could remember names better than he could.

Sakura was working on her dress. It was burgundy with cream and gold stuff. Hinata was working with her, even though they would be competing. Sakura wished they wouldn't be competing. Hinata's dress was absolutely perfect.

When they were done, Hinata helped Sakura into it, and brushed her hair out. Sakura knew that Hinata had a crush on Naruto, so she wondered why Hinata was so calm, instead of at least brushing her off. But she was happy, and that's what really mattered. Hinata could tell her the good news whenever she was ready.

Finally, they were done. The dress was almost ankle length, with a slit reaching mid-thigh on the right side. There was a large cream sash around the middle with a large bow in the back that trailed lightly on the ground when she walked. Her hair was up in a bun with decorative chopsticks, with bangs out. There was a perfect amount of makeup on. Sakura was delighted with it.

"Oh, Hinata, it's perfect." She breathed. "Arigatou!"

"You did most of the work." Hinata said. "I didn't design it." Sakura smiled at her modesty. Hinata had given her most of the ideas.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled. "It's perfect!"

Sakura whirled; she hadn't been expecting him to appear like that. "Arigatou." She replied, smiling.

Hinata realized quickly that she wasn't needed at the moment, so she packed up and left.

Ino was also working on a dress. She was working with Tenten. Her dress was a black and short, with silver trim. She got a light perm, and looked more like she was going on a date than to a beauty contest, but it suited her well, and fitted perfectly.

Tenten knew it was to show off to Sasuke, but she didn't say anything, much less that Sasuke would probably have to be forced into going. Tenten thought that Sasuke and Shikamaru were both boring, an opinion unique to her.

The four girls were at a bar, chilling out. Though none of them drank, they were having fun. They were talking about guys.

"So, Tenten, who do you like?" asked Ino.

"Yeah, tell us!" Sakura was enthusiastic. Tenten didn't reply, so Hinata made a guess.

"I think she has the hots for Negi." She suggested. Tenten blushed a deep red, meaning they had struck gold.

"I don't." she said, knowing that they could see through the lie.

"I don't know what you see in him; you don't normally go for people that could be labeled 'boring'." Said Ino.

"He's not nice to anyone." said Hinata.

"Yes he is." Tenten replied. "He's on my team, and he's never been mean to me or Lee-kun."

"Something must have happened between you and him to make you like him that much." Sakura picked up the reason instantly.

"Nothing important." Tenten said unconvincingly.

"Right." Ino said sarcastically. "We believe you."

"Spill it." Hinata said, much more relaxed around her friends than with people she didn't know as well

"Well," Tenten started, and told them.

Tenten's story 

_I was walking home along the river after practice with Negi. We were both exhausted, as Guy-sensei had been in an enthusiastic mood. Lee-kun was ahead of us, still filled with that annoying energy, right to his fuzzy eyebrows. Suddenly, there was a strong wind, with something painful in it. I was knocked into the river. I was too tired at swim, so I started drowning. Negi didn't even think twice about it, he jumped after me with his clothes on, and rescued me._

_When we were out, the first thing he did was ask me if I was okay. Temari walked out of the woods._

"_Oh!" she said. "I didn't see you there. Gomen nasai."_

"_You should watch where you're aiming those!" Negi said, before collapsing. I realized that he had taken most of the damage, and I only got a small bit of it._

_Temari realized that, too. She took us to the hospital on her fan._

End of Tenten's story 

"I think Negi forgot about it, but I remember, and I always will." Tenten finished.

Ino, Sakura, and Hinata clapped. "I didn't know Negi would do that for you." said Hinata.

"I didn't know you were such a good storyteller." said Sakura.

"I think that you would have a good chance with him, if he's willing to do that for you. And you're on his team, so you're with him a lot."

"You really think I have a chance?" asked Tenten.

"Yeah." replied Sakura. "Is there someone else that he likes better?"

"I don't think so."

"You can do this, girl!"

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Oops 

Gaara, thank you for the flowers. Unfortunately, they gave me an allergic reaction. Now I'm going to miss the tournament on the day after tomorrow.

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Please review. Don't complain that I changed Tenten's personality, I'm not very far in, so I just made one up. 


	5. Food and Vomit

This is where it started getting better. Thanks for bearing with me this far. .

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5

Food and Vomit

Gaara decided that he would go to the tournament, but he wouldn't compete unless someone asked him to. He hoped that the people giving him frightened glances wouldn't throw him out.

He sought out Hinata, as she had been the one to invite him, but Temari reminded him what had happened last time, so he decided not to. When he walked past a information booth, he was handed a booklet with the times of the different contests and times in it.

Lunch Everyone 12:00

Eating Contest Everyone 1:00

Mock Battle Young People 2:00

Beauty Run Females 4:00

Banquet Everyone 5:00

Music and Arts Contest Everyone 7:00

Ending words Hokage 10:00

It was 11:00. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro headed to the dining area, which was a large clearing just outside of Konoha. When he arrived, he found a place to sit. About five minutes later, Hinata, Tenten, Ino, and Sakura sat beside them.

"Ohayo, Hinata-chan, Tenten-chan, Ino-chan, Sakura-chan." said Temari.

"Ohayo, Temari-chan, Kankuro-chan, Gaara-kun." replied Hinata. Temari silently noticed that she was on less formal terms with Gaara than with her and Kankuro. She also seemed to have forgiven Gaara completely.

"Ohayo, Hinata-san, Tenten-chan." Gaara replied. He didn't know Ino and Sakura, so he ignored them, true to his ways.

"So you're Gaara." Tenten said. "Why did you attack Hinata?"

"Tenten, calm down!" Hinata seemed uneasy, now. "I invited him here, he didn't mean to!" Tenten looked at Hinata with confusion. She hadn't been told the circumstances. "He left flowers for me, and they were the first things I saw when I woke up. They made my day."

Temari concluded that though neither Gaara nor Hinata knew it, they were both in love. Sakura decided that this was a great time to gather up the 'boring people': Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Negi. Ino and Tenten complained that they weren't boring, but Sakura was already gone.

About twenty minutes later, Sakura was back, with Negi, Shikamaru, and Sasuke looking as if they had been dragged there (Maybe they had been.) and Naruto looking hyped up.

Shikamaru looked the Sand people over, Gaara first, then Kankuro, and Temari last. When he made eye contact with her, she blushed and looked away. Shikamaru noticed, but his 200+ IQ didn't cover much about love, crushes, or anything else of the sort.

Sasuke simply sat as far away from Ino as he could. Negi chose a free spot and sat there. The free spot was beside Tenten, who seemed happier than she had seconds ago. Sakura and Naruto sat together near Ino. Shikamaru finally decided that Temari fell into the large group of 'troublesome' people. He looked at the clouds and wished he was as free and happy as them. Then he sat down, and said "How troublesome." Temari smiled.

Tenten was in a beautiful mood, for two reasons. One, Negi was sitting beside her, and two, there were two couples waiting to happen right there. Thought she doubted they knew it, Hinata and Gaara were in love.

And then there was Temari, who had an obvious crush in Shikamaru, for reasons unknown. Shikamaru was oblivious to her affections, though, judging by the way that Kankuro quivered with silent laughter, he was quite aware of in. She would have to make sure he didn't tell Shikamaru, as that would ruin her chances. She would tell the others in the dressing rooms for the beauty contest.

She hoped Temari would compete, Tenten wanted to style her hair.

A waiter came by. When she got to Naruto, he surprised everyone but Shikamaru. "No thanks." The waiter and everyone else were confused.

"But, Naruto, you didn't eat anything all day!" Sakura said. "You'll starve!"

"That's' the point." Naruto replied.

"He wants to be able to eat as much as possible in the contest at one." Shikamaru said. "It's not that hard to figure out." Temari smiled.

"Are you sure you can watch us eat, Naruto?" asked Sakura. Naruto smiled with determination.

The food was delicious. Naruto managed to not eat anything, even the chocolate cake that was desert, though he got Sakura to save him a piece.

Hinata finished the small amount she wanted quickly, and watched Gaara eat his food. He ate it quickly, as if he was very hungry. But Gaara finished his cake before Hinata, so when she looked at him, he caught her eyes in his and held them there for a while. Though his eyes normally scared her, she saw something new in them, something warm and human.

Gaara noticed Hinata watching him throughout the meal. When the cake came, he ate his quickly, and watched her savor hers. When she looked at him, he caught her eyes, and looked into her eyes, trying to see her thoughts through them. He didn't see fear any more, though he had last time. He saw a mirror of the new feeling he had, and something else all together. He wished he knew what it was.

After lunch, the group went to watch the eating contest. Only three people had entered: Naruto, Chouji, and Kiba.

Naruto sat down looking hungry, Chouji looked less hungry, but still, he was from a clan based on eating Kiba and Akamaru looked hungry all the time, so it was hard to tell for them. Shikamaru and Ino cheered for Chouji (though Shikamaru didn't seem to want to cheer at all and Ino looked like she would rather cheer for Naruto), while everyone else either stayed quiet or cheered for Naruto.

The owner of the place seemed exited. He had huge vats of Raman for the two of them.

"Hey, Hokage-sama, is Akamaru allowed to eat, too?"

"Hai." The Hokage replied. Naruto looked unhappy about it, but didn't complain.

"Ready?" The bowls of Raman were set out.

"Set?" The contestants picked up their chopsticks and bend over their bowls. A nurse got out a few bottles of extra-strength Tums.

"**_GO!_**"

The screaming started seconds after the eating. At the one minute mark, Chouji was on his third bowl, Naruto was finishing his second, and Kiba and Akamaru were starting their third.

At three minutes, Akamaru stopped after helping with ten bowls. Chouji was finishing his twelfth, and Naruto was starting his twelfth.

At twenty bowls, Kiba threw up, thus being disqualified. Naruto was going slightly slower on his thirtieth, and Chouji was looking a bit green on his thirty-seventh.

After ten minutes, Sakura threw up watching them, and Hinata was feeling ill. Ino was swallowing consistently. Shikamaru had looked away a while ago. Kankuro looked greener than Chouji, who was about to go at bowl forty-six.

Hinata felt a hand grip hers. She looked to the side at the person: Gaara. He seemed to be the only one who was unaffected by the sight of Chouji and Naruto go at it. Hinata smiled.

Naruto and Chouji blew chunks at the same time. They were both into bowl forty-nine. A brave judge looked at the bowls.

"Winner—Uzumaki Naruto." A huge grin spread across Naruto's face, even as he ate the Tums. Sakura ran up and hugged him, and everyone laughed (except Gaara and Shikamaru) as Naruto looked desperately around for help.

Once Sakura realized and stopped what she was doing, the Hokage gave Naruto a gold metal with the Konohaleaf carved into one side and the shop's symbol on the other. Naruto took an outrageous bow, and everyone cheered.

Everyone dispersed to get ready for the mock battle, next. Hinata went home to get some knives and throwing stars. Gaara wondered whether he should battle and risk losing himself. Ino flirted shamelessly with an annoyed Sasuke who was trying to get ready for the mock battle. Sakura asked Naruto whether he was okay before going to get ready. Naruto decided that he didn't want to upset his stomach again, as did Kiba and Chouji.

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Oops 

And then there was Temari, who had an obvious crush in Shikamaru, for reasons unknown. Shikamaru was oblivious to her affections, though, judging by the way that Kankuro quivered with silent laughter, he was quite aware of it.

"Oy, Shikamaru, I think Temari here likes you!" Temari blushed.

"Really!"

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Please review. I don't remember names very well, so if I spelled something incorrectly, or got one totally wrong, tell me. 


	6. The First Round

This one is a bit long, but bear with me, please

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6

The first round

When they got to the relatively small stage, the Hokage explained the rules.

"You may not try to injure or kill the opponent. The battle is over at first blood or if the opponent gives up. The first blood is five points, a vote is taken; the winner of the vote gets five points, and the most outrageous insult or threat is five points. Those who will fight or have fought may vote, but you may not vote for your match.

"Those who wish to fight, come onto the stage." Hinata, Tenten, Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, Shino, and Negi walked onto the stage. Shikamaru was pushed onto the stage by Naruto. He bumped into Temari, who blushed a deep red and moved slightly away. When he didn't move to get up, she helped him up.

_His hands are so soft! It's as if he doesn't do anything all day!_

"First match, Kankuro and Hinata." The Hokage announced.

Kankuro wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't sure he wanted to win, seeing as Gaara liked her, but he wasn't about to lose to a girl. HE also wasn't whether he _could _win. She was Hyuuga, and he had seen how determined she was during the Chuunin exams. On the other hand, he could definitely get the insult prize.

"You little mouse turd!" he yelled. "I should shove you up an elephant's nose." Hinata laughed. That wasn't the desired effect. "And then make the elephant sneeze you all the way home." Everyone laughed that time.

Then, the mood changed, and Kankuro drew a knife. He lunged at her. Out of reflex, she stuck his arm, causing it to go numb. He jumped back. The numbness faded and he wished he hadn't retreated. She drew her knife. Instead of lunging, she threw hers. He dodged, thus getting his sleeve cut, but no blood. He drew two knives, and so did Hinata. They attacked, and met in the middle. He kept Hinata on the defense, striking again and again.

Finally, he decided what to do. He got into a good position, and applied all his weight on the knives, bearing her down. Suddenly, she bit him. It was the one thing he didn't expect, and it hurt. Worse, it bled. As soon as she saw the blood, she backed down. He looked at the bite-marks. She spat.

"You taste bad!" she exclaimed. He laughed. "I'm never going to bite you again if my life depends on it!"

"Good, it hurts." The Hokage laughed with everyone else.

"You may vote." The Hokage concluded. "For Hinata?" Half the hands were raised. All the people in their little group were in support of Hinata except the other Sand ninjas. It was split down the middle.

Then, Gaara raised his hand. The balance was tipped, and Hinata won. Kankuro stared. Gaara valued her more than the team—him. He really was in love.

"Winner--Hinata, fifteen points." said the Hokage. Kankuro's face burnt. He hadn't even won the insulting!

He walked down. Hinata bowed first; then walked down.

At the bottom Hinata was crowded by people, who wanted to congratulate her. When they were done, Gaara walked up.

"Congratulations," he said. "You deserved it." Hinata smiled and blushed.

"Arigatou."

"Next match: Negi and Shino."

Shino looked less confidant than usual, as everyone knew how good Negi was. Negi looked grimly confidant.

"I think it will be more likely for my insects to squash you than for you to squash my insects." Shino said.

"Your body is nothing but an anthill, with many ants in your head. Is there room for a brain among those ants?" They obviously didn't usually insult their opponents before fighting.

Negi drew a knife and activated the Byakugan. He rushed at Shino, knowing that it would be a race. If he hit Shino before an insect bit him, he would win. He lunged as fast as he could, but an insect got him seconds before he scratched Shino. Shino looked pleased with himself, as the Hokage asked for votes.

"You may vote." The Hokage said. "For Negi?" It was almost everyone. Perhaps ten hands were down.

"Winner—Negi, with ten points."

Shino walked off of the stage; looking pleased with himself for all that he had lost.

Negi smiled, and walked off the stage into a crowd of screaming girls, which made him stop smiling.

"Next match: Temari and Shikamaru."

Shikamaru walked onto the stage, wondering whether to try. He decided to see if she was interesting. If she was, he wouldn't try, and if she wasn't, he would try, so he wouldn't lose to her again.

He watched her reaction to him. She was slightly flushed, and didn't look very determined. She seemed sort of like Hinata. But when he wasn't there, she seemed to be much more like a tomboyish version of loud, intimidating, Ino. It was something to do with him. He thought of all her reactions to him.

_Shikamaru was pushed onto the stage by Naruto. He bumped into Temari, who blushed a deep red and moved slightly away. When he didn't move to get up, she helped him up._

_When he made eye contact with her, she blushed and looked away._

_Yet people always seem to describe her as tomboyish and anything but shy. What about me could make her shy? She isn't afraid of me; no one is until I have them in my control. So…_A stricken expression crossed his face. _Oh my god, I can't beat her now! She…_

He decided the best way to get out. "Hokage-sama," he started. "This was all a big mistake. I was pushed onto the stage by Naruto." He said. Temari saw the reason for saying this. She blushed. Everyone there glared at Naruto, who had fooled them into thinking that there would be a incredibly mind-bending match between two great thinkers.

"Naruto," the Hokage wasn't happy.

"Gomen nassai, Shikamaru." Naruto apologized. He acted like a dog being scolded.

"Next match: Gaara and Tenten." Tenten swallowed. She hated him, and she wanted him to get together with her best friend, and she was afraid of him. She wasn't sure what to conclude.

Gaara was smiling confidently. She used weapon attacks; easy to counter. And he could easily use the sand to pierce her skin. The question was where. He wanted to draw blood, but not enough to bring out the monster. The finger, he decided.

"I could smother you with one grain of sand, and kill you with two."

"You're a despicable lily-livered toad-wart on a hippo's rump." Tenten used a unique insult that she had made up on the spot.

Gaara showed no sign of having heard; his sand came out. A spike of it attacked Tenten's finger. She dodged about three times and threw a knife. The sand caught it with ease, and got her finger while she was distracted. A single drop of blood fell from Tenten's finger and she knew she had lost. She smiled.

"You're good," she said. She didn't hate or fear him any more. She respected him more than Guy-sensei, but she wasn't afraid any more.

"You may vote." The Hokage said. "For Tenten?" Temari and Kankuro were the only ones with their hands down.

"Winner—Gaara" Tenten walked down, immediately followed by Gaara, who didn't bow.

"You won." said Hinata at the bottom to Gaara. "Congratulations." Gaara smiled. Temari noticed. _He smiles a lot, now. And he tries not to kill people, though I can see it on his face when he wants to. But he's happy._

_

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_

Oops

Negi smiled, and walked off the stage into a crowd of screaming girls, which made him smile wider as he took it their features with his eyes.

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Plesae reveiw. I hope this story isn't going to fast.


	7. The Finals, Followed by Great Beauty

Finnished chapter 7, I hope you enjoy it.

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**_Chapter 7_**

The Finals, Followed by Great Beauty.

"Next match: Hinata and Neji." Hinata swallowed and looked at the stage, remembering the last time she had fought Neji. And Neji had been going easy.

"This is a mock battle, not the real thing," said Tenten. "It's first blood." Tenten was in love with Neji, though, so she thought the best.

Just as she was about to go up, Gaara spoke to her. "Do something he won't expect," he said. "He knows your style, so change it."

Hinata smiled. She could do that.

Neji was already on stage for about three minutes when she went up.

"You're late," Neji said. "Even if you are a squirrel, small and stupid, you shouldn't be that late. Ants could do better."

"I am fashionably late. You're early, like the teacher's pet you are." Hinata's voice was quivering, though, taking away from the quality of the insult.

Hinata herself was quivering. Neji drew a knife. Hinata drew two. As Neji charged, Hinata cringed a bit. She blocked his attack, but he rotated his wrist, catching hers, and creating a spurt of blood. She had lost.

"You may vote," said the Hokage. "For Hinata?"

It was split in half. Tenten was split in half, too. She loved Neji, but Hinata was her best friend.

The points didn't go to either of them.

"Winner—Neji, with ten points."

"You would have won, if he hadn't twisted his wrist like that!" Sakura exclaimed.

"She was too nervous," said Shikamaru. "If she had been meeting him for the first time, she might have stood a chance. As it was, she didn't stand a chance."

Gaara said nothing, instead of trying to console her. Hinata was thankful for that, everyone's consolations were just making her feel worse.

"Next match: Temari and Gaara."

Temari was quivering. She had seen the worst of Gaara.  
She had seen him kill about three dozen people at once for no reason. She remembered the screams of the children that had been in that group, their wide eyes. And she knew that Gaara cared little enough not to remember.

There was worse, too, but Temari didn't want to remember that. She wouldn't try. She would let him win.

"You can barely write, yet you claim to be a ninja? Is your brain of sand?" Temari knew these things wouldn't anger Gaara from experience. He didn't listen to insults.

"You shouldn't have such long hair." Gaara said, knowing it was something she would listen to. "If you had to cut it off or die, you would die to keep the memory of long ago alive."

Temari drew a knife. Gaara let the sand out. She attacked him, knowing she would fail. He used the same attack as last time, and pierced her finger in the same spot as he had pierced Tenten.

Temari lost. The vote came.

"You may vote." Said the Hokage. "For Temari?" Temari and Gaara were almost split, but there were two more for Temari.

"Winner—Gaara." Gaara looked at Neji.

"I will forfeit the finals, as if I get too angry, the monster will come out and many here will die." Gaara said. He didn't know whether it was true, but he knew that at least a dozen would die before he was eradicated.

The Hokage looked worried, but accepted his withdrawal. Neji didn't look too happy about it, but he accepted the metal. It had the Konoha symbol on one side and a throwing knife on the other.

He looked pleased with himself as he bowed to the crowd, and less pleased with himself when he was swamped by female admirers.

Hinata looked over at Tenten. She had a strange look on her face, like longing and happiness and sorrow, all mixed into one. Hinata knew the feeling well. It was one that she felt often.

As Gaara walked off the stage, people cleared out of his way. Hinata walked up to him. "You did well," she said. Gaara smiled. People were looking at her strangely, but she felt sorry for Gaara. She wondered whether there was a way to seal the monster, the way Naruto had got the nine-tails sealed. She and Gaara walked side by side through the crowd, with people staring at them from a 'safe' distance.

Hinata hated the feeling, but she wouldn't let Gaara face it alone. Suddenly, the tension was broken, as Tenten ran up. "Hinata, I've been looking all over for you!" she said. "We have to go get our dresses and makeup for the beauty contest!"

"Okay," Hinata replied. "I'm coming."

Tenten and Hinata met Ino and Sakura (who were now friends, since Sakura has obviously given up on Sasuke). When they arrived backstage, they saw Temari, who was also competing. Even though it was a competition, they were all friends, so it was a friendly competition.

Tenten grinned. "Hey Temari-san!" Temari looked around. "Over here!"

"Hi everyone." Temari was wearing her dress already. It was the same shade of lavender as her normal clothes, but it was tighter, and showed off her form. It was sleeveless, but not a tank top. Her hair and makeup weren't done yet.

"Tenten-san, could you help me with my hair?" she asked. "I have trouble with it."

Tenten smiled. "I've wanted to do your hair since I saw you in the Chuunin exams," she said. "I'll enjoy it." She walked up to one of the hair/makeup tables and motioned for Temari to sit down. She took out the elastics, and Temari's hair let itself down, but it was extremely frizzy and slightly curly. Tenten frowned for a moment. "We need to wash this," she said. "I can't work with this much frizz."

Temari's hair was washed with a special shampoo and conditioner. It came out with body instead of frizz. Temari looked shocked. Instead of a shock of fuzzy blond hair, she now had a head of blond hair that shone perfectly.

Tenten smiled. "It won't last forever, but until you wake up tomorrow, it'll last."

She brushed Temari's hair for a while, then put in a headband. "We'll leave it loose so you can show it off." Tenten said. "Maybe Shikamaru will notice."

Temari looked stricken, as she blushed at looked at her.

"Come on, it's not like you hiding it that well."

"If you noticed me, did you notice our other couple, too?" she asked.

"If you mean Gaara and Hinata, how could I not notice?" Tenten replied. "They might not have noticed, but I certainly have."

Tenten smiled. She didn't have to go about matchmaking alone. She thought back to Temari and Shikamaru's match. Shikamaru would have told the Hokage earlier, if that was the real reason. Something else influenced it.

"Temari, I think that Shikamaru knows."

"Really?" Temari seemed worried.

"Yeah," Tenten replied. "But we still have a chance."

"Why do you think that?" Temari was obviously distressed.

"Because Shikamaru is really smart; he'll figure out what he's supposed to do. In the mean time, us four will find out what sort of girl he wants, and tell you, hopefully without him knowing what our reason is."

Temari blinked. "Would you really do that for me?" she asked.

"Of course!" Tenten exclaimed. "That's what friends are for, after all."

Gaara, Kankuro, Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Neji were all seated together, as it was their group that would be up there. People were betting on who would win.

Sasuke had his money on Tenten, Naruto was betting on Sakura, Neji and Gaara were sticking with Hinata, and Kankuro was betting on Temari. Shikamaru deemed the whole thing troublesome.

Ino came out first. Her skanky outfit didn't go over well with the crowd or the judges. Quite a few people flinched or raised their eyebrows.

Temari was next. Kankuro's jaw dropped; he had always thought of Temari as less than pretty, but with her hair like that, she looked a lot nicer. Shikamaru was having second thoughts on the troublesomeness of Temari liking him.

Tenten came after Temari. Sasuke smiled, thinking that he had placed him money well. Neji frowned slightly, perhaps thinking it would have been better to put his money on his teammate. But he had seen Hinata dressed up before, and he had confidence in his cousin.

Sakura was next. Naruto said "Wow!" and began jumping up and down, telling everyone that she was his girlfriend. Sakura saw him, and almost started laughing.

Finally, Hinata came out. Neji smiled, quite sure that he had won the bet. Kankuro glanced at Gaara, who seemed puzzled, not because of Hinata, but something else. Kankuro hoped that Gaara's confusion wouldn't make him angry.

The judges conferred. Sakura was laughing, telling the other girls about Naruto's reaction to her dress. The other girls laughed, too, picturing the blonde boy doing yet another stupid thing.

"We have made our decision!" the judges thundered, quieting the exited chatter. "The runner-up is…" they paused for effect. "Hyuuga Hinata!" A lot of people cheered, and Gaara and Neji received a fair amount of cash. "And the grand winner, the most beautiful girl in Konoha is…" there was exited murmuring throughout the crowd. "Haruno Sakura!" The crowd burst into cheers, and Sakura blushed, invisible under her makeup. She went out to receive her prize, a metal with the Konoha leaf on one side and a shopping bag on the other.

Sakura was puzzled about the shopping bag. "The shopping bag means that you get a free shopping spree in one hour of your choice.

Sakura's face lit up further. "Really?" she asked.

"Really." the judge confirmed. Naruto arrived, and hugged her. Sakura fell over, and Naruto landed on top of her. Sakura smiled as Naruto got up and helped her up, looking embarrassed. Luckily for her, There was a wooden stage for te judges, so the dress was fine. Naruto grimaced; he had a splinter. Sakura took his hand and pulled it out, for which Naruto hugged her again, this time without enough force to knock her over.

"Can't breathe…" Sakura whispered, upon which Naruto let her go, and asked with embarrassment if she was okay.

"Hai," she replied. "I'm fine."

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_Oops_

Temari's hair was washed with a special shampoo and conditioner. It came out with even more frizz. Temari looked shocked. "Tenten-chan, how could you!"

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There will be SakuNaru in the next chapter, I promise. Please leave a reaview! 


	8. The Beach

Well, here's chapter eight. Some SakuNaru stuff. . Hope you like it.

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**_Chapter 8_**

The Beach

Tenten was bored. She had nothing to do, as Neji was off somewhere, so she couldn't train. She thought. Suddenly, she had an idea. She would invite everyone to the beach!

One hour later, Sakura, Ino, Temari, Hinata, Tenten, Kankuro, Gaara, Shikamaru, Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji were all at the beach. The girls were all wearing bikinis. Tenten's was orange, Sakura's was pink, Ino's was white, Temari's was lavender, and Hinata's was blue. Shikamaru was wearing his normal clothes, only instead of his normal mesh shirt, he was wearing one that said 'Procrastinators unite! ...Tomorrow.'

Gaara had bought swimming trunks, they were black. Naruto's were a gaudy mix of orange and blue. Neji's were light gray, Kankuro's were dark purple, and Sasuke's were navy.

Sasuke almost smiled when he saw Tenten's bikini; she had always been something special for him.

Hinata saw Gaara in his new swimming trunks. _Wow. His abs are so…_

Temari read Shikamaru's shirt and smiled. it suited him perfectly.

"Oy, Shikamaru!" Naruto called. "Aren't you going swimming?"

"No."

Everyone else went into the water, though. Naruto was thinking. He wanted to play a prank on someone, but who? Then he saw Neji, who didn't seem to be doing anything interesting. He smiled.

Five minutes later, Naruto was running away with Neji swimming trunks. Neji stood up.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Give those back!" He was about to run after Naruto, when it sunk in that if Naruto had his swimming trunks, he had nothing. He blushed and sat down, wishing that he had been quieter about it.

Tenten had been sneaking up on him when it had happened. She got a good look at him before blushing profusely and looking down.

Sakura realized that she had to do something. As his girlfriend, she was responsible for him. She walked out of the water, swaying her hips. "Hey Naruto." she called, using her most flirty voice. He turned around, and she flipped her hair. He stared.

_Wow. She's hot. And she's mine!_ Naruto walked over, forgetting he had Neji's swimming trunks. Sakura did something she would have never thought of two months ago. Sakura kissed Naruto in front of everyone. As she had predicted, Naruto dropped Neji's shorts in surprise. Though it was to get Neji's shorts back, Sakura enjoyed it. Naruto also enjoyed it. In his opinion, it was the best thing that had ever happened to him. When she broke it off, Naruto stood there in a daze.

Sakura picked up Neji's shorts and threw them at him.

"Arigatou." he said, still in shock. Even though Naruto had told everyone about him and Sakura's relationship, it was one thing to hear it from Naruto and another thing entirely to see it.

Sakura blushed as she realized everyone was staring. "What?" she asked. "It was only a kiss." A few eyebrows were raised.

About two hours later, everyone was eating at the beached hotdog stand. Tenten walked over to Sakura.

"Tell me the truth: was that to get Neji's shorts back, or was it just because?"

"It was to get Neji's shorts back, but it was really…fun." she said.

"Then you enjoyed that?" Tenten was confused.

"Yeah," Sakura replied. "I wouldn't be dating him it wasn't enjoyable to kiss him."

"Wow." Tenten said. "I wish I had a boyfriend."

"Meaning Neji." Sakura replied mischievously.

"Hey!" Tenten exclaimed. Then she whispered. "What if he heard?"

"You would have a better chance." Sakura said.

Tenten didn't appreciate this answer, but Neji walked over to them. Tenten seemed to radiate happiness, even though she had been angry a second ago.

"Sakura," he started. "I wanted to thank you for getting my shorts back."

"No problem." she said. "I enjoyed it." Neji looked surprised for a brief second.

Naruto saw a dock in the distance. "Wow." he said. "I bet no one can swim over there." Everyone looked, and everyone agreed. Temari took it up.

"I bet I can." she said.

"I challenge you to." Naruto said.

"I will." she replied, wading into the water. Once she got to the drop-off, she started swimming. She swam with the ease of someone who swam every day. Shikamaru looked at her, going through the water at an easy pace. Swimming made her every curve better.

_If she likes me, that's not a problem._ He thought.

Temari swam on for half an hour. Everyone watched her. She continued swimming, slower and slower. Shikamaru started to get worried. She wasn't going to make it. Finally, at three quarters of the way through, she stopped moving.

Shikamaru didn't think. He ran into the water with all his clothes on and started swimming after her, quickly. Naruto looked alarmed. He knew instantly that he would get in a lot of trouble.

Ino was the first one to recover from shock. "Shikamaru isn't strong enough to swim all the way there with Temari! They'll both drown!" Sasuke was the second to recover, and raced to the boathouse. Unfortunately, they were out of boats, as it was a great day for boating. Sasuke cursed and ran to get the Hokage.

Finally, the rest recovered from shock, and Hell set in. It was instant chaos. Even Neji looked upset.

Shikamaru kept going, praying that Temari would be okay, not realizing that it was himself he should pray for. When he finally reached Temari, she was floating, unconscious. He put her on his back and swam on, not realized that his body was taxed past its maximum.

He realized that he had a very beautiful girl on his back. He smiled grimly. Maybe he would get a reward from her if he lived to get that far.

Finally, he reached the dock. He put Temari on the dock, and checked for her vital signs. Lucky for him, she had a heartbeat and she was breathing. He shook; his clothing would give him a fever. He removed everything but his boxers, in case she woke up. He knew that they would only survive if they shared body heat, so he leaned her against him, hoping that someone would find them before they starved to death or worse.

_Oops_

Naruto walked over, forgetting he had Neji's swimming trunks. Sakura did something she would have thought of two months ago. She slapped him across the cheek.

"You don't go around stealing people's swimming trunks!"

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Well, that was chapter 8. The next chapter will have some ShikaTema,I promise. 


	9. Romance at the Dock

Well, here's chapter 9. I hope I didn't overdo it.

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**Chapter 9**

Romance at the Dock

_This is just great. We are on a detached dock in the ocean, and we're floating away._

Temari drifted back into consciousness. She hurt all over, but she was warm. The source of the warmth was behind her. She was leaning up on it. Then she realized that it made no sense. Why was she warm? It would make sense if she didn't hurt, because then she would be dead. And it would make sense to just hurt, and be about to die. But she was breathing cool air, and she was warm. She opened her eyes.

"Ngg." she groaned at the light. She was still in the ocean. She was on the dock. But why was she warm? She turned around to the source of the warmth. Shikamaru smiled at her.

"Shikamaru-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you take the trouble to save me?"

"It wasn't trouble." he replied. "It was worth it."

Temari blushed. "But I haven't done anything for you…"

"Now's your chance."

Temari didn't grasp what he was suggesting. "What do you mean?"

He looked into her eyes, making her blush. But she couldn't look away. His gaze told her what he wanted. She wanted it, too, but wasn't really sure of herself.

Suddenly, he moved in, kissing her. She relaxed into his body. It felt so natural and real. She ran a hand up his back and ran a hand through his hair, freeing it from its elastic. It was so smooth and silky.

She felt his tongue probe her lips, asking to enter. She opened her mouth, letting his tongue brush up against hers. His hands met behind her back, drawing her closer. She felt his perfect abs against her body. Temari was happier than she could ever remember being. His left hand ran up her back. He started fiddling with the tie in her bikini top.

Suddenly, he realized what he was doing, and slowly broke it off. Temari smiled and blushed. She looked at him with absolute love.

"I…" Temari started. Shikamaru smiled.

"Would you consider a date tomorrow night?" he asked.

She broke out of her daze. "Yes!" she exclaimed, and hugged him, knocking him over. "I'd love to!"

They heard a motor boat in the distance. They stood up and waved their arms franticly, trying to get their attention.

It veered towards them. It was Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi.

"Oy!" yelled Shikamaru "It took you long enough! we've been here for hours!"

Kakashi smiled. "There was a fish drowning on the way, so we taught it how to swim…" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow cynically.

"Hop in!" Sakura yelled.

"Shikamaru, why are you in your boxers?" asked Naruto. Sakura hit him, but she looked curious, too.

"It's not what you think!" exclaimed Temari. This made Kakashi raise his eyebrows.

"If I had kept all my wet clothes on, I would have caught cold." Shikamaru said. Sakura decided that Temari was too happy for having almost drowned. And the bow tying her bikini was only a single knot, now. Sakura took her to a room, 'to get her some clothes'.

She did. She didn't have much selection, only one other outfit than what she was wearing. It was a black belly-shirt with mesh sleeves and belly. It said "Shut up." in pink across the front. There was a _very_ short black leather skirt with a thick belt. It had a pair of matching boots that came halfway up her lower legs and two inch clunky heels. It was a very gothic look. Sakura smiled.

"So, what happened between you and Shikamaru?" she asked.

"Nothing!" Temari replied a bit too quickly, blushing.

"You're as bad of a liar as Kakashi." Sakura said bluntly. "Tell me: what happened? You're too happy to have just drown, and the strap on your bikini was half untied."

"He kissed me." Temari said, blushing. "And then he asked me out, for tomorrow night."

"Really!" Sakura was extremely excited. "That's great."

"But I don't know what to wear…" she said.

"Then we'll hit the mall as soon as everyone is assured you're okay." Sakura loved shopping, and had a great eye for it. "We'll see if he likes this look, and shop based on that and what looks good on you."

Sakura walked out of the room with Temari. Shikamaru was lost for words. He stared, thinking how beautiful it was, and how lucky he was to be going on a date with her. Naruto saw this and drew the connection.

When Shikamaru finally found his tongue, he said "Wow." Temari walked up to him.

"Cat got your tongue?" Temari said. Shikamaru smiled.

"If you're a cat."

"Would that be a good thing?" Shikamaru just smiled. Naruto looked lost, unsure of what to do. It was becoming quite obvious that they were a couple.

Kakashi looked on with interest. "So you two are an item, now?" he asked. Temari blushed.

"I guess." replied Shikamaru.

Gaara was troubled. He got a strange feeling whenever he saw or talked to Hinata. He didn't know what it was. He didn't understand it. He wondered what it was, and it ticked him off. He decided to ask Kankuro.

"Kankuro," he said. Kankuro looked at him. "I have a question." Kankuro was seriously confused, but allowed him to be towed to a small room in the hotel they had been staying at for the past three days. Gaara sat down, so Kankuro did, too.

"Have you ever felt a weird, confusing emotion because of being near someone?" asked Gaara. Kankuro looked at him. It was true. He really was in love!

"Yeah." Kankuro replied "What about it?" He knew, but he didn't know how to explain it. He thought about it.

"What is it, and why?" asked Gaara. He was acting like he had before the tragedy. Before his mother died and he was labeled a threat.

"It's love." Kankuro said simply, wanting more time.

"What's that?" Gaara asked, still sounding confused.

"It's when…" Kankuro thought for a moment more. "It's when one person cares more about someone else than themselves. And no one knows why."

Gaara blinked, taking it in. He was acting like he had when he was five. Kankuro smiled. He hoped that Gaara would stay this way

"Who's the lucky lady?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Hyuuga Hinata." Gaara said. "I'm in love with Hyuuga Hinata."

_Oops_

Sakura walked out of the room with Temari. Shikamaru was lost for words. He stared, thinking how terrible this was. "Temari, you don't like that, do you?"

* * *

Well? Did I overdo it or not? I don't know if it's any good or not. Please review.


	10. A D Ranked Mission Sasuke's Tears

_**Chapter 10**_

A D-rank mission. Sasuke's Tears.

Kurenai's team met at the waterfall, a beautiful place, but there was a lot of litter. Kurenai told them their mission, though not why they had a D-ranked mission.

"I can't believe we're on a D-rank mission." Kiba complained. "Cleaning up the forest is hardly a any mission!"

"K-Kiba-kun, you shouldn't say things like that." Hinata complained weakly. She didn't like it, either.

"It will go faster if we split up." Shino said. His insects were gathering a lot of trash, and they seemed to ba able to do the whole thing themselves. However, the whole team had to work.

Kiba agreed, looking like he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. "Yeah. We'll meet back here in one hour with the junk."

Hinata wandered off, picking up trash as she went. She liked repetitive work, like sweeping and dishwashing, so she enjoyed it, even if it was somewhat disgusting.

_I wonder what Gaara is doing. I hope he has somewhere to stay_. Her thoughts wandered towards Naruto._ He seems happy with Sakura. I am happy for them; they're so perfect for each other, but still… I had wanted my first kiss to be with Naruto. I'm still love Naruto, even if he is taken, now. Even if he was happy when Sakura kissed him, I still want him._ Hinata shook such selfish thoughts from her head and continued.

Forty-five minutes later, with her bag full, Hinata decided to start making her way back. She turned around and continued in that direction, heading towards the sound of the river they had met at.

When she got there, Kiba, Kurenai, and Shino were nowhere to be found. Then scenery looked unfamiliar, too. Hinata decided to head downstream, towards the waterfall. They had been able to see the waterfall where they agreed to meet. She headed down the river, hoping that she wasn't too late. She walked for about two hours, worrying more and more the farther she walked. The river headed back into the forest. Hinata was about to sit down and give up, when she saw a clearing. She walked faster, hoping that this would be the waterfall. She pushed aside the ferns and her eyes widened.

Kiba frowned. "Where is she?" he sounded angry, but anyone who knew him could tell that he was simply worried, though it was guaranteed that Hinata would get a lecture followed by a hug when she got back. "She should be here by now!"

"She's not around here." said Shino. "My insects can't find her."

"She wouldn't wander that far off, would she?" Kiba asked, but he sounded unconvinced.

Kurenai walked up to them. "Where's Hinata?" she asked.

"We don't know." replied Shino calmly.

"Then we'll have to organize a search party." said Kurenai.

"Okay." Kiba said, sounding defeated.

Ino was in a hallway, sitting on the ground hugging her knees, with her head down. She wasn't quite crying, but almost. _Sasuke almost smiled when he saw Tenten's bikini._

_I could deal with him not liking me, but he likes Tenten! She thinks he's boring, she's almost the only girl that would say no if he asked her out, and she's the one he likes! But she's hung up over Neji! I hate my life!_

She heard footsteps come towards her. She didn't look up. Nothing mattered. They stopped in front of her.

"Ino-chan?" a male voice asked. "Is that you?"

"Go away."

"Ino-chan, you aren't acting like yourself." he said. "Do you need me to take you to the hospital?"

She looked up. It was Sasuke. Suddenly, she was angry. She stood up.

"Why do you pretend to care!" she screamed at him. "After I've spent my whole damn life trying to impress you, doing everything possible to get your attention, you're in love with Tenten! Well, guess what! Tenten likes Neji! And she says you're boring!"

Sasuke got a blank look in his eyes. He walked away, as fast as he could, with his head down. "I guess she's right." he said quietly, in a tone Ino had never heard before. "I guess I am boring." He turned around and smiled weakly at her. "I should try to be more interesting, shouldn't I?"

Ino was stunned for a moment. It was strange enough that he had smiled, but she had seen the glisten in his eyes, and his damp cheeks. He was crying.

She ran after him, berating herself. _The one time he actually pays attention to me, I make him cry. For the first time ever, I made him cry! And I'm his biggest fan!_

"Sasuke-kun!" she called. "Sasuke-kun, don't cry! I didn't mean it like that! I'm sure Tenten—"

"No." he said. He was about to say more, when he sat down. He put his head in his hands, and his shoulders shook; once, twice. Ino stared before sitting next to him.

"Sasuke-kun!" she was really distressed, now. "Sasuke-kun, don't cry!" she realized that she wasn't helping. She put an arm over his shoulders in silent support, and waited.

When Sasuke regained his composure, he spoke. "If you tell anyone, there won't be enough of you left to feed to the ants." he said.

"The only way I won't tell is on one condition." she said. He glared at her. "If you kiss me."

"It wouldn't be a real kiss if it was forced." Sasuke said. "And we both know you would never do anything to ruin my image."

"You're right." she said. "Sasuke-kun, I love you."

"No." he said. She stared at him. "No, if you really loved me, you would realize that your antics are not what I want, they embarrass me. If you really loved me, you wouldn't put up a false image, you would let me see the real you."

He walked away, leaving Ino extremely traumatized.

_The real me. after all this time, I don't even know if there is a real me._

Neji walked away, stunned. _Tenten likes me. I can't just brush her off the way I would another fan girl, but I don't know what to say, anymore. And I should get to training, or I'll get a stupid speech from Gai-sensei._

He got to training in time, and the three of them started training. Gai was off somewhere. However, before they even started training in earnest, Neji got cut my one of Tenten's knives.

"Neji?" Tenten asked "Are you okay?"

Neji looked down and mumbled an excuse. He started walking away; training was obviously over. Tenten ran up beside him.

"Neji!" her voice lost it's playful tone. "Neji, look at me!"

Neji did, his face crimson. "What do you want! I have a lot on my mind, and I haven't been getting enough sleep!" It was true.

"Neji," Tenten was openly worried. "You can tell me what's on your mind. I won't get offended."

"No, I can't" he said. "It doesn't concern you."

"Yes it does! How are we supposed to train if you're distracted! And we're a team, you have to trust us!"

"This isn't a matter of trust; it's a guy thing."

"You can tell me!" exclaimed Lee.

"You hardly count as a guy." Neji said. Lee was crushed. Then he saw Sakura and was about to blow her a kiss, when Naruto came up and glared daggers at him. He knew that Naruto would do more than just glare daggers if he did. He watched as Naruto displayed his affections.

Sakura was walking towards the bridge where she was to meet with her team, when someone hugged her from behind. She started, and got even more uneasy when he started licking her ear.

"N-Naruto?"

"Yes?" She wished he wouldn't do thing like that in public.

"You shouldn't scare me like that!"

"No one else would be allowed to do this, I would kill them."

She sighed. She knew that.

"And besides, Lee was about to do something."

She turned around to face him. "Then you do this to protect me?"

"And because I love you." Sakura smiled. Naruto always knew what to say to her. She kissed him and ran off.

"I'll race you to the bridge!"

_Oops!_

He walked away, leaving Ino extremely happy, having not heard a word he said, but rather the fact that he was talking to her.


	11. Gaara's Reaction

_**Chapter 11**_

Gaara's Reaction

It was the ocean. Hinata hadn't even been on the right river. And now she was utterly and completely lost. She knew that the beach was far away; from the beach, you could see for miles in all directions, and there wasn't a river in sight.

"Well, I should probably find a place to sleep for the night." she said aloud, to break the silence. "I see if I can get back to Konoha in the morning." She hummed to herself as she chose a cave with a bit of seaweed in it and lit a fire there. Then she lay down and quickly fell asleep.

Sakura wanted to give something to Naruto. He was always so kind to her, and he had given her a beautiful ring/bracelet. She remembered the occasion.

_Naruto walked up. It was their third date, and Naruto looked especially happy. When she asked him where he wanted to go, he surprised her by taking her to a rich restaurant. After the meal (not Raman!), Naruto handed her a medium box, wrapped in burgundy velvet. When she opened it, she gasped. It was a golden bracelet with rubies set in it, with a net of gold and rubies thinning down to a gold thread that attached to a red gold ring for her middle finger. It created a shining Konoha leaf of red and gold._

_Naruto helped her put it on and she hugged him, elated. After that, they had shared a large slice of chocolate cake, the kind that almost melts in your mouth._

Sakura still didn't know where he had gotten the money, but she wanted to pay him back. Suddenly, she got an idea. She would clean his house. She changed into an orange halter top and a short pink skirt. She put an apron on over it; this would be a messy job.

Naruto was walking home from the Raman restaurant, feeling thoroughly satisfied with himself. When he got home, he instantly noticed that something was different. He sat down in a free chair to think about it.

_Wait! A free chair? There wasn't a free chair in the morning. My house…it's clean! Spotless, in fact._ He stood up, wondering who did it. He walked into every room in the house to see the same spotlessness. He went into his bedroom last, afraid that it was all a dream he would wake up from when he entered his room.

There, tucking the last clean shirt into a drawer, was Sakura.

"Sakura," he started, his eyes tearing his happiness.

She turned around. "Hey, sexy." she called, teasing him. He ran over and hugged her, knocking her to the floor. She looked slightly startled. She looked up at him, from a mere few inches below him, smiling. He kissed her passionately, taking her by surprise before she relaxed into it. It was the first time that Naruto had kissed her instead of the other way around, and Sakura enjoyed it.

Neji decided that he needed advise from someone with a girlfriend. As much as he hated it, that meant Naruto. He knocked on the door before entering, and looked around for Naruto. He had heard that Naruto was a slob, but his house was perfectly clean, sparkling, almost.

He looked in the bedroom. Naruto was there, alright. He was on Sakura, kissing her, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. He decided to leave silently and try again later.

Temari was getting worried. She was waiting at Sakura's house, as the other girl had agreed to lend her something for the date. She ha been there for an hour, and it was only forty five minutes until Shikamaru arrived at the restaurant. Finally, Sakura arrived, looking disheveled but happy.

She led Temari into her room, then the closet. Temari gasped as she walked into the closet. It was huge! Even if Sakura wore the same outfit a lot, she sure had a lot. Temari knew that it wouldn't be that formal, so she looked for something nice but casual.

In the end, she chose a jean knee length skirt and a black tank top. Sakura approved, so they set about her hair and makeup. She wore her hair loose (de-frizzed) with a headband.

Then she walked to her hotel to meet Shikamaru. When she got there, she only had to wait for five minutes before he arrived, looking the same as always. He hadn't even dressed up. When he got there, she opened the door, and he blinked a few times. "Temari." he said. "You're more beautiful every time I see you."

Temari blushed, looking down. "Don't lie like that." she said, thinking he was joking.

"But it's true." he replied. "Come on, we don't want our reservations canceled." She walked beside him, happy, but unsure of herself.

"So, after dinner, would you rather go to karaoke or DDR?" he asked her.

"Do you do DDR?" she asked. It seemed unlikely that Shikamaru would do DDR.

"Yeah." he replied. "I've got to have a hobby in life."

"Then let's do that." she said.

When they arrived at the restaurant, a waiter guided them to a small table with bad lighting. As Temari squinted at the menu, trying to read it, she wondered what dates where supposed to be like. Somehow, she didn't think that not knowing what to say was it. She got a salad. Shikamaru got Ramen.

When the food arrived, Temari started poking at her food, unsure of what to do.

"Is something wrong?" asked Shikamaru.

"Iie, it's nothing."

"No." he replied. "Tell me what's wrong."

Temari looked at him. He was so sure of himself, so hott and confident. He gazed steadily into her eyes.

"Well," she said "It's just that this is my first date and I don't know what to do." She was blushing, her face crimson. Shikamaru smiled.

"It's okay." he said. He knew that she didn't really want to talk about it, so he changed the subject. "When do you think we should tell the others that we're going out?" he asked.

Temari blinked. She hadn't thought of that. "The next time we see them, I guess."

Shikamaru nodded. They ate, talking about random things of no importance and enjoying each other's presence.

Iruka was walking home, thinking about his students, when he heard someone call his name.

"Oy! 'Ruka!" Iruka turned. It was Kakashi, who was quite drunk.

"Come over here!" Iruka ignored him. Kakashi walked over. Iruka walked faster. Kakashi grabbed his shoulders and turned him around to face him. "Why won't you even look at the man who loves you?" Kakashi asked when Iruka looked down to avoid eye contact.

'_The man who loves me?'_ _This is worse than I thought! I'll take him to my house for the night so he doesn't hurt himself. _Iruka grabbed his hand and started hauling him towards his house. Kakashi wasn't very hard to drag when he was drunk.

When Iruka gat to his house, he yanked Kakashi inside so that no one would see him.

"Kakashi, you're drunk again." Iruka told him.

"No I'm not!" Kakashi complained. "I only had a bottle and a half!"

_Only?_ Kakashi stumbled towards Iruka, who watched him carefully. When Kakashi, lunged forward to kiss him, he was caught by surprise. He kicked Kakashi, hard. The Jounin went tumbling backwards like a Gennin, what little balance he had gone.

Iruka wiped his mouth, scared. _Maybe he really does like me, but not so openly. This is terrible!_

_But I might have enjoyed that if he wasn't drunk…_ Iruka shook the thought from his head. _What am I thinking? I'm straight, dammit!_

"'Rukaaaaa," Kakashi called. "My head hurts." That was the last thing he said before he passed out, leaving Iruka extremely confused at himself.

Gaara stared at Temari.

"She's gone?" he asked, not quite taking it in. "Where is she?"

"We don't know."

Suddenly, he absorbed the information, his face taking on an extremely unhappy expression as he got up. "Gaara, where are you going?" Temari asked.

"To find her." he stated simply. Temari knew better than to intervene.

_Hinata is gone._ he thought. _I have to find her, or the ones responsible will pay in blood._

He let his sand out and told it to find Hinata. It asked how he wanted her killed. It took him forty-five minutes to convince the sand that he **_didn't_** want her dead.

The sand spread itself very thin over Konoha, looking for the girl. It spread farther and farther, until the surrounding country was covered for miles around. There would be consequences, but he would think about that later.

After two hours, he started searching the ocean, too. Soon after that, the sand told him Hinata was IN the ocean.

_She wouldn't be!_ All the same, Gaara went towards the ocean as fast as he could. When he got there, he sat a limp shape, floating. He couldn't swim, and the sand would die underwater. He decided to risk it. He waded into the water, hoping it wasn't too deep.

Luckily for him, it was fairly shallow. He wavered for a moment upon seeing her. _Is that really Hinata? What if it isn't?_ He decided that if it wasn't Hinata, he would give it a painful death. In the end, he picked it up the most convenient way possible, which was bridal style.

"N-Naruto-kun," She murmured in her sleep. "You're so warm…"

Gaara fought the sudden urge to kill her. He stood there for ten minutes, telling the sand that it shouldn't kill anything that he wanted dead. Finally, he convinced it that he wanted to kill her himself, and it left him alone. He walked to shore with her, and then into the forest, where he chose a hollow in a tree and set her down, hoping that he could get her to Konoha before she woke up or someone found her. He left to get firewood.


	12. Kiba's Feelings Hinata Saved

Chapter 12 

Kiba's Feelings; Hinata Saved

Kiba was searching franticly. Both he and Akamaru were worried half to death about her. But her scent was gone. Their searches took them closer to the water. Then Kiba smelled it.

_Sand! And her! She's alive!_ He ran towards the scent, hoping that he could get there before Gaara killed her. He knew that no one else would have sand here.

When he found Hinata, she was sleeping restlessly in a hollow tree. "No," she said weakly. "Naruto-kun wouldn't do that…"

_She's still hung up on that idiot?_ He picked her up as best as he could, savoring the feeling of her. _Even when she's been in the ocean, she still smells beautiful._

HE carried her to the hospital, hoping that she would be okay. When he arrived at the gates of Konoha, she search was called off. Everyone was relieved that she was okay. Kiba went to Ino's flower shop (luckily someone else was at the counter), and bought a flower for her. It was a tiger lily.

He went to the hospital and put the flower in a vase on the bedside table and sat there, waiting for her to wake up. He couldn't imagine living without her kind but shy presence. It just didn't seem possible.

Finally, after three and a half hours of sitting, Hinata woke up.

"K-Kiba-kun?" she asked. "Kiba-kun, where am I?" The sense of security she had had since the attack was gone. Her stutter was back again, not surprising after the trauma she had been through.

"Yeah, it's me." Kiba replied. He smiled. "You shouldn't have worried us like that. Half the village was out searching for you."

"R-Really?" she asked faintly. "G-Gomen, Ki-Kiba-kun."

Ha enveloped her in a bear hug. "I was so worried about you. I thought that you were gone, and I just couldn't live with myself if that had happened to you."

Hinata blushed, realizing that Kiba was crying. "I'm sorry." Her first response was another needless apology.

"No, I'm the one that should be sorry. If we hadn't split up, this would have never happened." he said. It wasn't until she had disappeared that he realized how deep his feelings for her were.

"Hinata, I never realized how much I love you before." he whispered, causing her to freeze and catch her breath.

When dawn broke, Kakashi was feeling very pained. _I shouldn't have had that much alcohol. I knew I would get a hangover. And where am I?_ Kakashi realized that he wasn't in the hospital, or his house. He wasn't in a back alley or the bar, either. It was bright.

"Ngg." He moaned. It hurt. Footsteps came. The sound of them hurt. He looked at the person. Tallish, pineapple head… "Shikamaru-chan?" Why would he be anywhere near Shikamaru? Shikamaru wasn't even his student!_ Oh no! Don't tell be I mistaked him for Iruka and did something perverted to him!_

"No, it's me." The person said. Iruka. _I spent the night with Iruka? Well, I'm still clothed, that's a good sign._

"What did I do?" asked Kakashi.

"Nothing I want to remember; included taking my bed, forcing me to sleep on the couch. _Well that's not so bad._

"When do you think you'll be able to go home?" he asked.

_I did something that he's not telling me._

"An hour?"

"Okay."

"What did I do?"

"Too much."

"Please tell me."

"You did something terrible, that no man should do to another man."

"What was it?"

"You kissed me, dammit! Kakashi, why would you do that to a _man_!"

"I'm sorry. I wish I hadn't." Kakashi was ashamed of himself. He didn't know he was _that_ horny.

"Are you really? Do you really regret that?"

"Of course. I hate it when I do horny things when I'm drunk."_ He knows. I guess I couldn't hide it forever. And I wanted my first attempt on his to be when I could remember it!_

To Kakashi's relief, they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Iruka went to get it, allowing Kakashi to think about what he should do. It would have to be before Iruka twisted the memory to be even worse, but after he got used to the idea. Three days? A week?

To Sasuke's sharp eyes, Iruka looked disturbed. "Iruka-sensei, Hinata has been found."

Iruka nodded and smiled. Sasuke decided to see if he could find out what was wrong. _I'll start randomly, then get closer to the problem._

"Have you seen Kakashi-sensei anywhere?" he asked, not knowing how close to the problem he was.

"Yes, actually, he's right here." Sasuke easily saw through Iruka face of this being normal.

"Why isn't he training us?" he asked, making up a reason on the spot for needing him. "He promised he would train us today."

"He, erm, had to talk to me." Iruka wasn't any better than Kakashi at making excuses. "He'll be out in a minute." When Iruka turned his back, Sasuke turned on the Sharingan, looking closer at the matter. It had been a while ago, and it was because of Kakashi. He reverted his eyes to normal as Kakashi walked out of the house.

"Is this where you are every morning when you're late?" Sasuke asked, aware of the implications.

Kakashi glared at him. "No." he said. "I'm not gay."

"I never said you were." Sasuke knew he had. He also knew, from Kakashi's defense, that he had hit something. _Kakashi is gay, but I don't think that Iruka is. Did Kakashi force himself on Iruka?_ This line of thought was rather disturbing. It also made sense, under the circumstances. This was worrying, and he would have to tell a few people, but he would have to choose carefully, in case he was wrong.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura and Naruto yelled. "You're late!"

"I had to teach a fly how to fly on the way…"

"No, you were talking to Iruka-sensei. I was there, and there's nothing wrong with that." _Why did he make up an excuse when he had a good reason?_

They started training, but Sasuke's mind wasn't on it. There had been a lot on his mind lately. Ino, Tenten, Neji, Hinata, and now Kakashi and Iruka. This wasn't his week.

Neji was extremely troubled. He didn't even know if he liked Tenten, and that was the one thing he really needed to know. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice Sakura creep up behind him.

"Boo!" she cried, putting her hands on his shoulders.

"Ack!" Sakura laughed at him as he glared.

"What's wrong, Neji-kun?" she asked. "Normally, I wouldn't even be able to get close to you, never mind pull off something like that."

"Nothing." he muttered, and continued on. Sakura decided to pull something mean, knowing it wasn't true but liking the idea that she could make fun of him: the so-called genius.

"You like someone don't you." She said, expecting a 'No!' or just being ignored.

"How did you know?" he stared at her.

"Really?"

That's when he realized it was a joke. Well, he needed help, might as well. "Yeah…"

Sakura stared at him. She would have to be something special to get him. Well, he wouldn't have any problems getting a date with her.

Five minutes later, they were at a small café, drinking coffee.

"So, who is it?" she asked. "Start from the beginning."

"Tenten." He said. "She likes me, but I don't know whether I like her."

Sakura blinked. She had thought it was the other way around. She thought it would be that he liked someone but he was unsure of their feelings.

"Well, duh!" Sakura cried. "If you didn't like her, you wouldn't care about it."

Neji thought a moment, not quite taking it in. Then, slowly, he nodded. "But what should I do?"

"Drop hints, wait for her to confess, then ask her out. I won't tell her my hand in this until you're going out together."

"No, you just won't tell her."

"I will, unless you would rather have me relate the whole thing to Ino right now."

Neji knew when to back down. He agreed silently, glaring at her.

"I hate you."

_Oops_

"You like someone don't you."

"Well it's not a guy!" Sakura raised an eyebrow.

_He's gay?_


	13. The First Night

_**Chapter 13**_

The First Night

_Kiba-kun loves me? But, why? What should I do? And it's not a bad thing. He's so strong, yet sensitive. He always knows how I feel before I tell him. And he did save me. I guess I like him, too._

"I-I d-do-don't know what t-to say, K-Kiba-kun." She rested into his arms. They were so strong, so masculine. She knew she would cry.

"I'm so happy," she said. Kiba smiled.

Suddenly, all the events of the past month caught up to her. She started crying, everything from when she had heard that Naruto and Sakura were going out, to when Gaara had attacked her, to when she had gotten lost.

"I was so scared. Kiba." She said through her tears. "I could feel the water pressing in on me, and I though I was going to die! I'm so sorry. I'm really annoying, aren't I?"

"You?" Kiba asked. "You could never be annoying in a thousand years." He smiled. He had thought she was going to die, too, though he had rebelled against the thought.

Hinata felt strangely warm, but it wasn't all unpleasant.

Later that day, the girls were all in Hinata's hospital room, relating the events of the last while. Temari spilled the story of her first date (with much prompting), Ino shared her conversation with Sasuke, which made Tenten feel horrible, and Hinata told them about her new-found relationship with Kiba. Sakura refrained from telling them about Neji's conversation with her, instead relating the joys of having a passionate boyfriend. Tenten told them about her training with Neji earlier.

"Well his problem is obvious," said Ino. "He figured out your feelings, and now he's clueless."

"But if he never noticed before, why now?"

They thought for a moment, before Hinata came up with a theory.

"Ino, do you think he heard your conversation with Sasuke-kun?"

Ino gasped. "I bet that's it!"

"He'll figure it out," said Sakura. "He's almost as smart as Shikamaru, who obviously figured you out, Temari." Temari blushed, remembering how tender his lips had been, on the first _and_ second times.

Another thing came to mind. When Shikamaru had realized that she _lived _in the hotel, he had offered for her to stay with him. She still hadn't decided. She decided to tell the gang that detail.

"Well," she started. It got their attention. "When he found out I had nowhere to stay, he invited me to stay with him, until I found a real house."

"He did?" asked Ino. She wondered how he meant that. "Do you think he would try anything?"

Temari turned crimson. "No!"

"What did you say?" asked Tenten.

"I didn't reply yet." Temari said.

You should say yes!" exclaimed Tenten. "Even if he does try something, you can defend yourself. But I agree with you, I don't think he would do anything indecent."

Suddenly, Temari remembered something. _"Hyuuga Hinata." Gaara said. "I'm in love with Hyuuga Hinata."_

"Hinata, what about Gaara?"

"What about him?"

"He likes you, too. He'll be heart broken if he finds out that you're dating Kiba." Hinata looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"You're right." Said Tenten. "I saw it too."

"It seemed like you liked him, too, at the time." Said Sakura. "I know I wouldn't invite him to a tournament after he tried to kill me."

"What do you think he'll do to Kiba when he finds out?" asked Hinata.

Temari gasped. "This is bad," she said. "If he finds out, Kiba would be lucky to come out alive."

"Since when did you have feelings for Kiba?" Tenten asked. I would have noticed if you did, but I really don't think you did."

"Well he is strong, and hott." Hinata said.

"Yeah." Said Tenten. "Sasuke is hott, too, but I can't think of anyone I would like to date lease."

"Even Lee?" asked Temari evilly.

"Eeeewwww!" exclaimed Tenten. "How could you even think of something like that!"

"Speaking of Lee, Naruto's protection has saved me from him on numerous occasions over the course of our relationship." Sakura said.

"Really?" said Ino. "That's great!"

The girls shifted from guy to guy, comparing them. At one point, there was even a verbal fight between Temari and Sakura on whose boyfriend was a better kisser. Sakura won, in the end.

Hinata couldn't sleep. She kept thinking of Gaara and Kiba. She loved both of them, and didn't want them to fight because of her. She didn't know whom she liked better. They were both hott and sensitive, both of them seemed to know her moods before she did. Gaara needed her, and she knew it, but he scared her, sometimes. And Kiba was so easy to talk to, where talking to Gaara was like running through enemy territory, she never knew what to say.

Yet, she didn't get that warm, fuzzy feeling when she though of Kiba, but it was always there when Gaara was on her mind.

The concentration and tiredness combined to make Hinata dizzy, and she fell asleep, a sleep filled with dreams of blood: Kiba and Gaara's blood.

Kankuro watched curiously as Temari packed her bags, obviously leaving. Gaara was sitting in a corner with a vague look on his face, something that was becoming more and more common.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm going to stay with Shikamaru until we get a house or go back to Sand.

"And will you be sharing a bed?" he asked. Temari blushed furiously and slapped him.

"What makes you think that!"

Unfortunately, Gaara had heard them.

"What does that mean?" he asked. Temari blushed, smiled evilly, and left, leaving Kankuro to explain what happened between a guy and a girl to Gaara on his own.

She watched him struggle to put it nicely, and laughed when Gaara started asking more questions along the same lines, leaving Kankuro blushing and trying very hard to explain.

"What does 'seme' mean?" she heard from behind her and laughed louder. He deserved it, after the comment he had made.

She rang the doorbell on Shikamaru's house. A woman looking to be in her mid-forties answered the door.

"Is Shikamaru here?" she asked.

"Yes, but why you need him at this hour of the night is beyond me."

_He didn't tell his mother about me!_

"Shikaaaaa!" his mother yelled. "There's a girl here to see you!

Shikamaru ran down the stairs, his face crimson. He grabbed Temari's arm and pulled her into his bedroom.

"Why didn't you call?" he asked. "Mom is going to think we're…" Temari blushed.

"I didn't know you hadn't told her…"

"Well, it's too late, now."

"She took out her nightgown, and went into a bathroom attached to his bedroom. She changed, wondering where she would be sleeping. When she came out, there was the bed and a pallet on the floor. Shikamaru was in his boxers, sitting on the bed.

"I'll take the pallet." He said. Temari stared at him.

"But…"

"No buts," he said. "Unless you'd rather I slept with you." Temari blushed and looked down, her ears burning.

Shikamaru chuckled. "I was joking."

Temari's blush spread. "Oh." She said, feeling stupid.

Temari sat on the bed, and climbed in. She watched Shikamaru turn off the light and climb into the pallet, thinking how smexy he was without his shirt on.

She fell asleep faster than she had in years feeling strangely safe, and very warm.

_Oops_

She kept thinking of Gaara and Kiba. She loved both of them, and wondered what it would be like to kiss both of them. _A threesome wouldn't be so bad…_


	14. The Fever

_**I would like to give a big thanks and a plate of cookies to Shanice Miharu, little wolf blossom, Vampire Toy, shikashikanaranara, Payday, and krn-kimbap for reviewing. After being all alone for so long I had given up on this story, but after reading their reviews I decided to forge on.**_

_**Chapter 14**_

The Fever

When Shikamaru woke up, he was disorientated. _Why am on the floor? He I fall out of bed?_ Then he remembered Temari and smiled. _How should I wake her up?_

He looked at her. She was lying on her side, and looked extremely hott with her hair spread over the pillow.

He remembered her reaction to his joke the previous evening. He looked at her. He smiled and used the Shadow Imitation on her. With a bit of manipulating, he got her out of bed, still sleeping. He stood mere inches away from her and let go.

Temari woke up to see Shikamaru right in front of her. She blinked, and she was about to scream when he kissed her, silencing any thoughts she might have had with a slightly mischievous look and the feel of his lips. When he broke off, it occurred to her that she was still in bed…her eyes flew open, and she looked around, only to realize that she wasn't in bed any more.

"Ara?" she started. "Why aren't I in bed?"

"The Shadow Imitation is good for more than battle." He said. "I wouldn't go farther than I did, though." He added to silence the slightly panicked look in her eyes.

"And by the way, you're beautiful when you're sleeping." Temari's blush deepened. "Though I don't think I've ever seen your normal color, under that constant blush of yours."

The comment didn't make her blush go away. Instead, she went into the bathroom to get changed and ready for the day. When she was done, Shikamaru went in, and Temari made his bed and folded up the pallet. She figured it was the least she could do after staying there for the night and causing him so much trouble.

When Shikamaru got out, he told her to stay up there and he would get her some breakfast.

"What time did the nice girl leave?" asked his mother.

"A few minutes after she came."

"I didn't see her leave."

"She left by the back door."

"Do I hear talk of a young girl?" asked his father, who was just waking up. "Boy, have you finally got yourself a girlfriend?"

"No." he said, the look of disinterest not leaving his face. He took a large breakfast upstairs, wishing that his parents hadn't been there so that he could have grabbed two pairs of chopsticks instead of one.

When he got there, he didn't mention what his parents had said, or how much it bothered him.

"I got breakfast." He said, just as Temari finished rolling up the pallet.

"That's good."

Shikamaru saw what she was doing. "You don't have to do that!" he exclaimed.

"It's the least I could do after the trouble I caused you."

"You already made up for that."

"I did?"

"Yes. Every kiss I steal from you is better than the one before it." Temari blushed again. He set the plate on the floor and they sat across from each other.

"Itadakimasu!" Temari reached for the chopsticks. She started eating. When she realized that Shikamaru wasn't eating, she was puzzled.

"Shika?" she asked. "Why aren't you eating?"

"You have the chopsticks."

"Oh!" she handed them towards him.

"No, it's okay. You can go first."

"But…"

"What did I say about buts?"

"_No buts," he said. "Unless you'd rather I slept with you."_ Temari's constant blush returned. She started eating again, but he looked very hungry. She soon finished, after eating about a third of the food.

She was about to get up, when Shikamaru stopped her.

"You'll never stay alive on that measly amount of food."

"I've been going without breakfast for the last year. I'll be fine."

"All the more reason for you to eat."

She sat back down and continued eating, this time putting her heart into it. She ate another third before getting up and going to the place where she trained with Kankuro. (Gaara didn't train, he killed.)

"How was your first night with a man?" asked Kankuro. She whacked his head again.

"He didn't sleep with me!"

"Sure. Whatever."

When Hinata woke up, there was a dish of water lilies beside the tiger lily from Kiba.

Dear Hinata,

I went into the water for the first time yesterday to save you, but it was worth it. You are more precious to me than my own life.

When I saw that you weren't in the hollow I left you in, I was worried, but you're safe now, so it's okay. Do you think you're well enough to come see me at the park?

Gaara

They were even more beautiful than last time, and there was a note beside them, like last time. 

Hinata gasped. _It was Gaara that saved me! And he cares about me! But what about Kiba! He won't be happy if I tell him. But I have to go see Gaara, I'll go right now!_

Hinata felt the familiar warm feeling as she stood up, she was a tiny bit dizzy too, but she contributed that to the fact that she had been off her feet for over twenty-four hours. She walked out of the hospital and out into the street. She was sweating. It was really warm out for fall!

She walked maybe not as stable as she should have been, towards the park. When she got there, Gaara was waiting. He walked over to her.

They sat on a nearby bench. Gaara looked at her.

"Hinata, I'm not sure if you feel this way, but I really care about you." He said. "And I, um, wanted you to know, that I really like you, maybe even love you."

Hinata gasped and looked at him. _Gaara loves me, too? But that's two guys in the past twenty-four hours!_

She looked at Gaara. Suddenly, there were three of him, and the world became darker and darker. She heard his voice echo strangely, far away before what remained on her consciousness slipped away from her.

Tenten was training with Neji. Once again, she just barely hit him, but this time the reason wasn't because he was spacing out.

"Neji?" she asked. "Why did you let me win?"

"I did not." He replied, through a faint smile and a deep blush.

"Is something wrong?" _I could have sworn that he was being nice to me!_

"No." Neji said. _Though it would be better is I could summon up the courage to kiss you._

"Neji?" Tenten was swaying.

"Tenten!" he caught her before she fell. He put a hand on her forehead.

"Tenten, you have a fever!"

"Oh." She said, feeling fuzzy. "You smell nice."

He almost dropped her. "Tenten?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"I knew you liked me, Sexy."

This was obviously more than a fever. Neji blushed again. "Yeah," he admitted. "Enough to know that you need medical attention."

"I'd rather have attention from you." She said, fingering his neck.

_She's definitely got more than a fever. This is embarrassing!_

"Sexy, if we have to go into the hospital, will you stay with me?"

"Of course!"

"That's good. There's no one I'd rather see than you, when I wake up."

Tenten took one of the straps on his headband. She licked it suggestively.

"Ack! What are you doing!"

Tenten passed out before she could answer.

Sakura was helping Iruka with the children, as Kakashi was giving Sasuke special training: something to do with the Sharingan.

When the children were dismissed, Iruka thanked her, and she went home, feeling unusually tired. When she got there, Naruto was waiting.

"Why are you here?"

"We're going on a date tonight!"

"I'm too tired." She said, going into her house. Naruto ran after her.

"Sakura!" he called. "Sakura, are you okay?" he asked as her spun her around and out a hand on her forehead. She had a terrible fever.

"Let me go to sleep." She said.

"Sakura, you're burning up! You have to got to the hospital!"

Sakura collapsed onto Naruto, knocking him over. He banged his head, and winced as Sakura's head hit his stomach. He got up slowly, then picked her up. He carried her, bridal style, to the hospital. Halfway there, she woke up.

"Naruto, you're hotter when you're in your boxers." Naruto smiled. That was the Sakura he was used to. "But I bet Sasuke has better muscles than you."

"Sakura! You shouldn't say things like that!"

"Why not?"

"Because you're my girlfriend!"

"I am?"

"Yes!"

"Have we kissed?"

"Yes!"

"Ew."

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. _She doesn't remember!_

"Keep going."

"Sakura, did you really forget?"

"Forget what?"

"Our relationship."

"Of course not!" she said and kissed him passionately. In the middle of the kiss, she fainted. Naruto was really worried, now. She needed attention, as soon as she could get it.

Kankuro was sheltering from Temari's winds more than usual during training. She seemed stronger.

"Wow, Temari, you're doing really good today."

"Or maybe you're doing worse!" she said, laughing.

"Hey!"

"Did you have fun explaining sex to Gaara?" she asked meanly.

"No."

"Tell me the details!"

"No!"

"Come on, it couldn't have been that bad!"

"It was."

"Well you deserved it. After all, you are the one who brought it up."

He hit her playfully, Right before he did, she got a blank look in her eyes. She fell over.

"Temari!" he yelled. He checked her vital signs; she was still breathing. "Temari, that's not funny!"

Nothing.

"Temari?"

He rechecked her vital signs, she wasn't breathing, and her heartbeat was getting worse fast.

"Temari!"

Sasuke decided to visit Hinata at the hospital. What he saw there surprised him half to death. Hinata, Tenten, Sakura, and Temari were all unconscious, and carried by someone.

His first thought: _Wow! What happened here?_

Next, he realized that a nurse was talking to him. "They all fainted with fever at around the same time! It's a phenomenon!"

"Where's Ino?"

"We don't know."

"If all the other girls have it, she probably does, too."

"You're right!" she said, but Sasuke didn't hear. He was already out the door to find her.

Ino sold a lot of flowers, that day. It seemed that all the other girls had a fever, so quite a few guys bought flowers.

Kiba and Gaara got flowers for Hinata, Shikamaru and Kankuro got flowers for Temari, Neji had sent Lee to get flowers for Tenten, who he wouldn't leave the bedside of, and Naruto got some for Sakura. Ino wished she had the fever, then she would get flowers, too. During a lull in business, Sasuke came running in, out of breath.

"Sasuke?" she asked.

"Ino, are you okay?" he asked, leaning heavily on the doorway.

"Yeah, I think so."

"You're sure?"

"It's sweet of you to be worried!" she cried, running over to glomp him.

"Ugh." Sasuke commented as he tried to pry her off of him.

Her warmth was suffocating. She was not only more persistent, but also worse today. She slid a hand up his shirt and ran her fingers up his abs. He hit her hand away angrily.

"You're even sluttier than normal." He said.

"And you're even hotter than normal." She replied. He rolled his eyes. _As if I haven't heard that a thousand times already._

"Ino, go away."

"What happened to the worry?"

"You proved me wrong. I should have known a snake like you would get a mammal disease."

"But, Sasuke," she whined. Suddenly, she fell over.

"Get up."

No response.

"Ino, get up."

Still no response.

He squatted and checked her vital signs. No breathing. No heartbeat.

"Shit!"

He got her onto his back and piggy-backed her to the hospital.

The first four girls were already in rooms. Ino was given a room. Sasuke frowned. _Why did I even care if she got the fever or not?_

_Oops_

His first thought: _Wow! They're all so much hotter when they're unconscious!_

* * *

**_Shanice Miharu I'm not alone in my support of Gaahina! Yay! (And the Oops will continue to make fun of everyone until this ends. .)_**

**_little wolf blossom I will try to get in another 'brotherly moment'. I was laughing so hard when I typed that..._**

**_shikashikanaranara I'm on my way to being your idol fanfiction! Omg! So happy!_**

**_Vampire Toy Grammar? There's a grammar check on Microsoft Word...It's not that great, but better than nothing._**

**_Sorry I didn't reply earlier, I wasn't expecting people to actually read it. I'm so happy!_**


	15. More than a Fever

_**Sorry about the absece of the note in chapter 14. Text boxes don't show up here, I forgot. The note was: **_

Dear Hinata,

I went into the water for the first time yesterday to save you, but it was worth it. You are more precious to me than my own life.When I saw that you weren't in the hollow I left you in, I was worried, but you're safe now, so it's okay. Do you think you're well enough to come see me at the park?

Gaara

Thank you again for reading this. I'm still insanely happy about the small number of reviews I got.

**_Chapter 15_**

More Than a Fever

When Tenten woke up, Neji was the first thing she saw.

"Hey, Sexy." She said, sliding a hand around his waist. "You kept your promise."

_Why is she acting this way? It's worse than Ino! Or better… _"Of course I did."

She moved to the far side of the bed. "Come on, Sexy. I'd say there's room for two." Neji paled. _What the Hell! This is NOT happening to me._

"Tenten, since when did you become a slut?" he asked her angrily.

"I would normally just think this stuff without saying anything." She said. "Would you rather have no idea what I'm thinking?"

"Yes."

"That's too bad isn't it?"

Her arm around his waist started to come undone, but changed course, and she ran her fingers up his abs.

He liked the feeling, but not while she was in this state. When her fingers approached his pants, his picked up her hand and put it on her.

"No."

"Why not?" she asked. "We both know you like it."

"That's not the point!" He was getting scared, which ticked him off.

"Oh, is it your turn?" She picked up his hand and placed it on her thigh. He withdrew his hand stubbornly, though it was tempting.

"Why do you fight it?" she asked.

"We aren't even dating!"

"That's only because you haven't asked me out yet."

"I'm leaving." He got up.

"Why?"

"Because I can't stand being abused like that!"

"Yes you can. You _like_ it."

"That's beside the point!"

"What is the point?"

"That we shouldn't do that."

"Why not? If both of us want to, why not?"

"Because you're sick!" he said, and left, slamming the door behind him. He wished he would have stayed, but it was too late now. _She's sick. She probably doesn't know what she's saying._

Naruto didn't eat. He had turned down food for the fourth time a few minutes ago. He sat there and stared at Sakura.

When her eyelids flickered, he stared harder.

"Sakura!"

"Sakura?"

"Sakura, are you okay?"

"Who's Sakura?"

"You're Sakura!"

"I…Am I Sakura?"

"Yes!"

"Who are you?"

"Naruto! I'm your boyfriend!"

"You are?"

"Yes!"

She reached out towards him, her vision fuzzy. She grabbed him, for far from his… "Sakura!"

"Yes?"

"Can you let go?"

"Do you dislike me?"

"No!"

"Hold my hand?"

"Sure." He sat on the bed, to be close to her. She sat up and leaned on him, holding his hand.

He put his arm around her shoulders, hoping that she would remember, like she had last time. He looked over at her; she was looking around.

"Where are we, Naruto?"

"In the hospital."

"That explains why I feel so lightheaded." They sat for a while.

Sakura moved over, sitting in his lap. Naruto smiled. He hugged her and began licking her neck. She giggled.

"That tickles!" she said as she turned around. When she did, he kissed her. She didn't even start, but relaxed into it instantly.

Finally, they broke it off slowly. Sakura had a fever; Naruto didn't want her to suddenly fait again. He started eating the food that the nurses had left him. Sakura watched hungrily.

"Can I have some?"

Naruto fed her, and she ate happily. Naruto remembered when she had fed him. Everything had been so much worse back then. She hadn't even wanted to, back then. Now he was feeding her when she could have easily fed herself, and using the same chopsticks. And she was happy about it.

When she was done, she started nibbling on Naruto's fingers playfully. As her licks moved upwards, his hand moved downwards, until his hand was on her breast and she was licking his neck. He kissed her.

Suddenly, she fainted, and Naruto cursed himself for forgetting their surroundings. It was agonizing. Naruto went to get some more flowers for her, hoping that she would remember him the next time he woke up.

Kiba was out getting food for the three of them, so it was just Gaara and Hinata in the hospital room.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked as she opened her eyes. She was alive, for which she was grateful. Gaara watched her wake up, happy that she was alive.

"Hinata-san, you're awake." he said.

"Gaara-kun?" she was puzzled. Everything was fuzzy in her memory.

"Yes, it's me."

A clear image came to mind. Kiba was dying, his blood absorbed by sand. "No!" she screamed. "Gaara, why?"

Gaara looked at her, vaguely puzzled.

"Why would you kill him like that!"

_Who does she mean?_

Kiba came in with the food and saw Hinata panicking, with Gaara looking vague.

Hinata saw him. "K-Kiba?" Kiba looked at her. He smiled.

"You're alive!"

Now he was puzzled. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"The sand…"

"The sand…?"

"She thinks I killed you." said Gaara, finally seeing what she meant.

"Why?" Kiba asked, and started feeding her, as she had the fever the worst and couldn't really move.

"I don't know."

"Hinata-san, why?"

"Because," she started, her eyes watering. "You both love me…"

Instantly, they became enemies. They took up fighting stances, and Gaara's sand was starting to come out of the gourd.

"STOP!" Hinata shouted, and started coughing. Kiba ditched the battle to help her, but Gaara's sand hadn't killed in a while, and it wanted to, now.

Gaara struggled with it, wanting to help her as she coughed up blood into a bowl that Kiba had found. When he finally had himself under, Kiba was getting Hinata to laugh. They seemed like a perfect couple.

A nurse came in and ordered the guys out of the room so she could help Hinata out. Kiba glared at Gaara, who was looking worriedly at door._ She was hurt, and I couldn't do anything. I say I love her, but Kiba would be better for her. I should let them get together, but… it hurts… to see them together._

"**She fainted!**" Shikamaru was mad. "**And you never thought to tell me!**"

"Sorry." Kankuro mumbled. He liked it better when Shikamaru said nothing but "How troublesome." This new Shikamaru was scary. Luckily, Kankuro had long experience in dealing with scary people.

Shikamaru disappeared in a puff of smoke.

When he got to the hospital, the nurses said that the girls were getting examined. Shikamaru sat in the waiting room, anxious to see Temari. _I hope she's okay… If she dies…NO! She's a strong girl! She won't die because of a fever! …But this is more than a fever… She will live! Even if I have to die to make sure of it!_

Shikamaru wished for once that he had Naruto's talent to stop thinking all together. Or his talent to fall asleep on command. For once, Naruto's dirt-low IQ seemed desirable.

Finally, the nurses told them that they were allowed into the rooms again. Shikamaru sat by Temari's bedside. she lay there, tossing and turning with horrible nightmares.

"No!" she screamed. "Shika wouldn't do that!"

_She's dreaming…about me? I'm really that important to her? Dammit! I wish I could wake her up!_

But he had tried everything, from cold water to whispering into her ear. Heck, he'd even tried licking her! She tasted good, even when she was drenched in sweat, which Shikamaru wiped off at regular intervals.

_I can't do anything for her! Some boyfriend I am. I wish she would wake up, show me she's alive._

"It's tough, watching them." said a nurse from the doorway.

Shikamaru turned to her. "Isn't there anything you can do?"

"Not yet."

"Why not!"

She smiled to offer him comfort, and left. He started crying.

"Why? Dammit, god, why are you doing this to her?"

Sasuke watched Ino. It was weird, seeing her without having to get away. She seemed a lot nicer when she was unconscious.

"Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked as her eyes fluttered open. She smiled weakly. "Why do you care, if I have a fever?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I don't know."

"But you hate me."

"I never said that."

"Yes you did. At least a dozen times."

"You're annoying."

"And slutty, and cursed, and dead. I'm also a whore and a shameless slut. So you've said."

"I did not." _Did I?_

"Yes you did. And you meant it."

_Was I really that mean to her?_

"I wish I had the Chakra to take your body for a while."

"Why?"

"So I wouldn't be sitting in bed, bored."

"I thought you liked staring at me, Brat."

"I do! It's just that, I'd rather be touching you."

Sasuke stuck out his hand, blushing. Ino took it, and nuzzled it.

"_Why did I do that? She's so clammy and disgusting."_

"I am not!"

"Eh?"

"You said I'm clammy and disgusting!"

"No I didn't." _What now, can she hear my thoughts?_

"You're so soft." Sasuke rolled his eyes. _Why am I doing this for a slut?_

Iruka was walking home. He was very tired, and he felt slightly woozy. It was hot out, for a fall night. He was sweating.

"Iruka?" a voice asked from the shadows to his left. "Are you drunk?"

"No, Kakashi-kun. Why would I be?"

"Your swaying, sweating, and drooping."

"I am?"

"You need medical attention."

"I don't."

"You do."

"I don't want any!"

Kakashi picked Iruka up and slung him over his shoulder. "If I can do this without injury, you need medical attention."

"You're going to make me make the students wait tomorrow!"

"The students don't need a sick teacher. They'll get a substitute."

"I'm not sick…I'm f…" He fell unconscious.

Kakashi carried him to the hospital, were he became the first guy to catch the fever. Kakashi waited in his room.

Iruka's eyes fluttered. "Who…?"

"It's me."

"Me?"

"Kakashi."

"My lover?"

_Am I?_

"If you want that."

"I do."

_Yes! Victory!_

"Excuse me Sir, but we need to run some tests on him."

"Okay."

_Oops!_

"You're annoying."

"And slutty, and cursed, and dead. I'm also a whore and a shameless slut. So you've said."

"I did not."

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

* * *

**_There is one more chapter to post (not until it ends, just that I've written), but I'll post that later. Maybeif I get reviews..._**

**_Please review. I'd be so happy...and I'd post the next chapter._**


	16. Recovery

_**Sorry that I took so long. XD I was working on my other one, Precious Memories. I'll try to be faster, next time.**_

_**Chapter 16**_

Recovery

Neji decided to brave another bout of shamelessness. He opened the door.

"Neji?" Tenten asked.

"Hai?"_ She's not calling me "Sexy" any more!_

"You said you would stay with me."

"I did. I only left to get you this." he said, and handed her a tiger lily.

She smiled. "Neji, thank you."

Neji smiled she was back to normal. He felt tears come to his eyes.

"Neji? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just…happy. You're back to normal."

Tenten smiled. "What did I do, go Ino?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't!"

"You did."

"Oh my god, what did I do?"

Neji related the whole thing. Tenten's jaw dropped.

"I did that?" she was stunned. "Neji, I'm so sorry." She hugged him.

"It's okay. You had a fever. I'm just glad you got better."

"Neji?"

"Mm?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Tenten." he replied. _I can't believe this. I did it! _"I was so scared when you went Ino."

They laughed. Everything would be alright, now.

When Hinata woke up, she felt slightly dizzy. There was a person there, but she couldn't see clearly.

"Hinata-san!" It was Kiba. "You're awake!"

"Kiba-kun…"

"Yeah?"

"I-I'm sorry I m-made you and G-Gaara-kun worry."

"Naw. It's okay." he said. Akamaru started washing her face. She giggled.

"Stop that! It tickles!"

Kiba laughed along with her.

"Hinata-san?"

"Mm?"

"Do you, um, think that, maybe, er, once you're out of the hospital, you could, you know, be my girlfriend?"

_Ah! Should I say yes? Or not? I like him…But I like Gaara-kun, too! I…_

"Sure."

Kiba smiled. "Thanks, Hinata. I love you."

Shikamaru hadn't eaten anything. He was worried sick. Temari hadn't woken up for three days. He was starving, and he hadn't slept, but he had to be watching her when she woke up. He just had to.

Temari groaned. Her head hurt. "Itai…"

"Temari?"

"Shi, do you think there's something for migraines?"

_Shi? Well that's new._ "Yeah." he said. He rang the bell for a nurse, who brought the pills and a glass of water.

He helped her sit up, and she took the pills. She sat there, with her head on Shikamaru's shoulder, for about half an hour. _He smells nice…_

Finally, it started to take effect. She looked up at Shikamaru. "How long have you been there?"

"I never left your side."

"How long?"

"Three days."

"Did you eat?"

"No, you're more important than the whole world to me." Temari blushed and nuzzled his shoulder.

"I love you." she said. "But you have to eat!"

Shikamaru laughed softly. "I'm just glad you're alive."

When Sakura woke up, the first thing she noticed was that she wasn't in her own bed. "Where am I?"

"In the hospital." replied Naruto though a bowl of Ramen. He didn't want to be eating when she woke up, but he was _starved._

He finished his bowl. "Why? Did I fall into the river?"

"No, you got a fever."

"I did? I don't remember it."

"Oh." said Naruto stupidly.

"I feel fine now." she said as she climbed out of bed. She was in a hospital gown. It was about three sizes too big.

Naruto smiled. "I was really worried about you! You forgot everything for a little while, there."

"Oh. Sorry about that."

"It's okay. Let's get signed out of here. I haven't tasted you in three days!"

Sakura laughed. "Oh you poor thing!"

Naruto blushed and smiled. Sakura laughed, and they left the room, going to sign out.

Sasuke felt stupid. He had checked on Ino about twice, and the nurses were starting to associate him with her. But it was out of sympathy. Chouji was at a family barbeque and Shikamaru preferred Temari over her, so his number one fan had no one. He shouldn't have cared, but her stupid prattle was somewhat comforting. That, at least, never changed.

On his third visit, a nurse asked him if they were dating. He glared at her, and replied. "No, I hate her, but she's one of my fans, so I have a duty to her."

"Huh." she murmured. "Well, I think she's coming around, so you might want to be careful."

Sasuke groaned, but he went anyway. _She had better thank me for this!_

When he got into the room, Ino took one look at him and leapt out of bed. She started nuzzling, hugging, and generally annoying him.

"Oh Sasuke, you visited me! I'm so exited! Oh, Sasuke, I love you!"

"Get off." he said coldly. She did, but continues prattling. It was somewhat relieving, to see her like that. But still annoying.

"Shut up." She did, and looked at him with big eyes.

"Why are you here, then?"

"You're a fan." he said. "Even if I hate you, I have a duty."

"Really?" _She seems so happy about my statement of hating her. She has selective hearing._

"Sasuke, I feel better now. Can you walk me home?"

"Sasuke-_chan._" he corrected her. She was coming very close to making him hurt her. "And no, if I'd known you would be awake, I wouldn't have come. I would rather not have."

She seemed crushed. "Hai, Sasuke-kun." she said. "Bye." She left. Sasuke left a few minutes later, wondering if he could have gotten the same respect without being so mean.

_Oops_

He finished his bowl. "Why? Did I fall into the river?"

"No, you got a fever."

"From what, you?"

_**Forgiven Dream I know you will. I love you all!**_

_**NekoSophie Really? If you do, you'll be the first person to read one of them… Glad you like it. The Oops is fun to write, too.**_

_**Thanks for reading, please review! I write faster if I get reviews. (It's true, really. The more reviews I get, the longer I'll willing to stay up and write this stuff. XD)**_


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